2. Flowers are happy in summer. In autumn they die and are blown away
Autumn Thought
Flowers are happy in summer.
In autumn they die and are blown away
Dry and withered,
Their petals dance on the wind
Like little brown butterflies.
Langston Hughes

3. Students will be able to —
explore the life of Langston Hughes
appreciate and understand ‘some’ of the poetry of
Langston Hughes
learn about the Harlem Renaissance
experience several exciting learning activities

4. Who was Langston Hughes?
How does his poetry impact people, society, and the world?

6. Langston Hughes

7. Langston Hughes ( ) was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance.
                                                                                            

8. The Harlem Renaissance
In the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. This African-American cultural movement became known as "The New Negro Movement" and later as the Harlem Renaissance.
More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage.

11. The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time that mainstream publishers and critics took African American literature seriously and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation at large. Although it was primarily a literary movement, it was closely related to developments in African American music, theater, art, and politics.

13. “Black life from the perspective of Black artists.”
Naming the World, Nancie Atwell

14. The music and dance and intellectual life of Harlem, inspired Langston more than his classes in mining engineering, and eventually he quit college. Meanwhile he sent poems to The Crisis.
Having difficulty finding work, Hughes, twenty-one years old, joined the crew of a ship sailing for Africa. Eventually he traveled through Italy, Holland, Spain, and France, writing all the while.
Finally he returned to New York, and felt as though he had returned home.
                    

15. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer—he began by writing poetry— he also wrote novels, short stories, essays, articles, and plays.
Hughes’ writings addressed the lives of the Black people. His works earned him a reputation as one of the major Black voices of the 1900s. He was known, during his lifetime, as "the poet laureate of Harlem."

16. A Political Poet …
Race was at the center of Hughes’ works—the beauty, dignity, and heritage of African Americans. Langston Hughes attempted to speak to all Americans—especially on the issues of social, economic, and political justice.

17. "I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, Why Democracy means, Everybody but me."

18. Langston Hughes died of lung cancer on May 22, 1967
Langston Hughes died of lung cancer on May 22, His home at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission. His block of East 127th Street was renamed "Langston Hughes Place".

19. Hughes started writing poetry when he was in grade 8.
His first book of poetry, 'The Weary Blues', published in 1926, made him well known among literary people.

20. Hughes's poetry absorbed the rhythms of blues and jazz and the dialect of African American speech that he heard around him. He continued to write and publish in The Crisis. He met poet Vachel Lindsay, who liked his poems and promoted them.

21. His first published poem was one of his most famous …
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Mississippi River

22. I, Too
I, too, sing America.  I am the darker brother.  They send me to eat in the kitchen  When company comes,  But I laugh,  And eat well,  And grow strong.  Tomorrow,  I'll be at the table  When company comes.  Nobody'll dare  Say to me,  "Eat in the kitchen,"  Then. Besides,  They'll see how beautiful I am  And be ashamed - -  I, too, am America.

23. Dreams  
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.