1. K-Shawn The Great Brower
James Langston Hughes
K-Shawn The Great Brower

3. James Langston Hughes was born February 1st 1902 in Joplin Missouri.
Hughes Growing Up
James Langston Hughes was born February 1st 1902 in Joplin Missouri.
When Langston was young his parents divorced.

4. Young Langston

5. Langston’s Life
His father moved to Mexico witch left him in his grandmother’s care.
Up until he was thirteen ware Langston moved to Illinois with his mother and step father.

6. Hughes entered Columbia University in the fall of 1921, a little more than a year after he had graduated from Central High School.
Langston stayed in school there for only a year, while at the same time he found Harlem.
Hughes quickly became an integral part of the arts scene in Harlem, so much that in many ways he defined the spirit of the age, from a literary point of view.

7. In November 1924, he moved to Washington D. C
In November 1924, he moved to Washington D.C. Hughes's first book of poetry was created.

8. Some of His Poetry
In Langston Hughes's poetry, he uses the rhythms of African American music, particularly blues and jazz.
This sets his poetry apart from that of other writers, and it allowed him to experiment with a very rhythmic free verse.

10. Influences
Hughes claimed Pawl Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences.
He is particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the 1920s through the 60s.

11. Hughes and His Views
Unlike other notable black poets of the period Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America.
He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself.

12. In 1942, during World War II, Hughes began writing a column for the African American newspaper, the Chicago Defender.
Money was a nagging concern for Hughes throughout his life. While he managed to support himself as a writer, no small task, he was never financially secure.

13. Major Works * Fine Clothes to the Jew 1927
* The Weary Blues 1926
* Fine Clothes to the Jew 1927
* Not Without Laughter novel
* Mule-Bone (with Zora Neale Hurston) play- 1932
* The Ways of White Folks 1934 Stories.
* Mulatto play 1935
* The Big Sea 1940 The first of two autobiographical volumes.
* Shakespeare in Harlem 1942
* Fields of Wonder 1947
* Street Scene musical based on the play by Elmer Rice, 1947

14. They send me to eat in the kitchen They'll see how beautiful I am
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,"
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America. Then.

15. QUOTES
"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it."
"I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, Why Democracy means, Everybody but me."

16. Langston Hughes died of complications from prostate cancer in May 22, 1967, in New York.
In his memory, his residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York City, has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission, and East 127th Street has been renamed "Langston Hughes Place."

17. Interesting Facts
Langston Hughes and his family moved so many times when he was a child that he later said that he had slept in 10,000 beds.
Hughes was elected Class Poet upon graduating from the eighth grade in Lincoln, Illinois.
Hughes never married, and never openly discussed his sexuality during his lifetime.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was one of Hughes's classmates at Lincoln University.

18. Questions Where was Hughes born?
Where did he live when his first poetry book was published?
Who were some of his primary influences?
What’s a major work of his?
What did he die from?

19. Work’s Cited http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPI D/83
nhughes/av.html