“Hold fast to your dreams, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He was born to Carolina Mercer Langston and James Hughes. Lived with his grandmother in Kansas, until he was 13. Felt rejected by his parents and the society he lived in. He died may 22, 1967 at the age of 65 in New York city. He is well known for his musical rhythm poetry mostly blues and jazz music.

While in grammar school in Lincoln, Illinois. He was designated class poet. Hughes stated in retrospect that this was because of the stereotype that African Americans have rhythm. He attended Columbia university in New York City. He spent a year there then moved on attend Lincoln university and graduated from there. He is well known for his musical rhythm poetry mostly blues and jazz music.

The Harlem Renaissance is known as the flowering of African Americans. Langston Hughes is known as the most recognized African American poets of the Harlem renaissance and one of the major African American voices of the 1900’s. His poetry was heavily influenced by the Harlem renaissance.

Until the Harlem renaissance poetry and literature were dominated by whites. Langston Hughes started out with poetry then expanded to novels, short stories and plays. He is known for his best piece of poetry which is “The Weary Blues” written in 1926.

Langston Hughes wrote “The Weary Blues” to portray the disputed fact among the nature of two traditions in a white society and how they relate with each other none of the less. It is about unfairness and discrimination towards African Americans who struggled during the Harlem renaissance.

We believe that Langston Hughes wrote this poem to express his struggles and how he tried to blend in with the American culture, he still knew who he was and where he came from. However we believed that he explained his struggles throughout this poem by speaking about a college colored student and a white instructor.

This poem is a celebration of mutual support in the sense of community the spiritual wealth of folks who do not have much in the way of material wealth. We believe that Langston Hughes wrote this poem because struggles financially his whole and through this poem he seeks that idea that money cannot buy happiness.

Langston Hughes