Mia Bautista 11/13/23

Why Langston Hughes Reigns Supreme Over Other Poets
As students in America, we are taught the basics of understanding and interpreting writing material. In English class, from as early as I can remember, we learned grammar and spelling, and were even separated into groups based on our abilities to do so “correctly”. Then we moved into higher levels of learning in middle and high school where we were introduced to abstract forms of literature/art, and were expected to have these insightful ideas about the material by the same teachers instilling in us as students the idea these writings were abstract in the first place, going against all that we had previously learned about what is correct and incorrect. I remember being introduced to the poetry of Langston Hughes, and my teacher describing his work as radical for the time period he wrote in. I also remember struggling to understand how a man writing about his personal experiences can be considered radical. Until I decided to look more into his writings and realized Hughes wrote with great passion and understanding of the Black experience and struggle, and that is exactly what set him apart from other writers. It’s also the exact reason why teachers like mine would consider his work radical; because he was willing to speak about subjects others would deem abstract, or not proper in the terms of standardized english.

Langston Hughes, a famous black poet and writer born in the 1900’s, in his poem “Theme for English B”, alludes to how college life for the only Black student differs to that of all the other white students in the same class, and discusses how social structures play a huge role in why
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college life differs so drastically. Hughes develops this idea by alluding to how a white professor may be looked at weirdly for saying “hello” to someone in the hood, the same way posh people would find it strange to hear “yo” in an academic context. The purpose is to make people aware that growing up and living in different areas gives us different perspectives on what is considered normal or correct. Hughes writes to other Black students and writers who may feel out of place like he did, because they deserve to be there just as much as he did. He also literally writes to his professor as the poem originated as an assignment in class. In “Theme For English B” Hughes writes “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me, at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you… (I hear New York, too.)”. This is a powerful example of how Hughes knows he and his peers can relate to struggling to navigate to the world at such a young age, financially and socially they face the same issues living in New York and adapting to life as college students. But he also notes that his perception of his struggle is guided by his environment. At the time he resided at the Harlem branch Y; during this era (Jim Crow) Black people were constantly harassed and threatened for the color of their skin. Hughes became a voice for the Black people during his career because he constantly drew on those experiences to connect with his audience. Hughes speaks as though New York is a part of him, as though he carried the weight of every Black person’s struggles and sorrows, and this is why Black people resonated with him so heavily.

Selecting what tone and style to write in was a tool that made Hughes stand out immensely, and thrive compared to other writers; He considered the fact that using standard English would accelerate the speed and consumption of his work, rather than writing solely in Black English. However this does not mean that he abandoned the familiar writing style of his fellow Black people, it means that he learned to adapt and understand what would be most effective when
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trying to get people to read his work. June Jordan, a Black American writer and activist, discusses the difference between Black English and standard English in her essay “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You And the Future Life of Willie Jordan”. Jordan says “I know that standard forms of English for Black people in this country do not copy that of whites. And, in fact, the structural differences between these two kinds of English have intensified, becoming more Black, or less White, despite the expected homogenizing effects of television, and other mass media.” (Jordan, page 2). Essentially Jordan is explaining the distinction between these two versions of English, while also explaining how through the media we should have been able to see more acceptance towards Black English. In America the idea of Standard English is imposed broadly across all state lines regardless of the vast difference in culture when crossing those lines; there are hundreds of different dialects, languages, and accents depending on what region you’re in, and even then it differs, so it makes no sense to deem one more correct than the other. Hughes, and Jordan, sought to address this idea by writing in a unique style that incorporates both versions of English to prove they are not exclusive to certain styles of writing or groups of people.

One of Langston Hughes’ main goals as a writer was to be a voice for Black people, and the oppression and suffering they experienced throughout American history. In a majority of his works he highlighted the importance of equality amongst all races, and genders, in the context of human rights and basic respect in society, and because of this he was highly praised for his work during the Harlem Renaissance; a national revival of African American culture. Miller Baxter, in an article titled “Langston Hughes: When Language Turns History.” discussed the intention and impact of Hughes’ work. He argued that “to Langston Hughes, black writers facilitate an advance into future time. Their very language, a material force in the world, helps abolish the
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crime of slavery. Servitude is the atrocity which existed in the past, but the spirit of which persists into the present.” (Baxter, page 2). This statement portrays the way in which Hughes viewed the importance of Black people and their words, he aimed to reverse this idea that Black English, or rather Black culture in general, was incorrect or less profound by empowering Black people to embrace themselves and their history through literature. Whilst discussing one of Hughes’ poems, “Ask Your Mama” (1961), about two black women who were deep in the abolitionist movement, Baxter notes how “Gwendolyn Brooks implies in the splendid metaphor, the turning river, citizens must navigate points in space and time. What they must appreciate is the power to promote social change during the spiral. Despite the inevitable spin, however, the agency of abolitionists Douglass, Brown, Tubman, and Truth transcends the centuries beyond them.” (Baxter, page 9) Before Hughes there were several inspirational Black visionaries who each in their own way expressed the need for Black people to use their voices to ensure the survival, and prosperity of the Black Future. Where Hughes’ perspective stood out is that he was able to identify that fact that the Black struggle was one that did not begin with slavery, and would not me with the Jim Crow era. As Baxter said “In Hughes’ literary world, history is not a forward line into a Utopian future. Neither is it a perfect circle… Rather, it is a spiral at once backward and forward, open to new guidance.” (Baxter, page 1). For Black people in America it is hard to imagine a perfect future where we do not have to suffer at the hands of white people, however as Brooks stated we must be able to use our voices even through the toughest of times. It seems unimaginable because of the way history seems to repeat itself in dark ways. Hughes aims to enhance Black people’s understanding of this social system, and aid them in navigating how to deal with and identify these injustices through writing his own personal experiences with these injustices, and describing how he handled them.
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Kalamu Ya Salaam, African-American author, poet, and arts administrator, in his journal article “Langston Hughes: Our Poet Supreme” argues that Langston Hughes was the most prolific Black poet in American History. Salaam supports this idea by combining how Hughes’s credibility and unique style of writing is what ultimately sets him apart from other poets. Salaam aims to elaborate more about what makes Hughes a credible source for Black people to draw on and relate to, he explains Hughes’ immense knowledge about the Black culture and his love for the Black people. Throughout Salaam’s journal article he makes note of his admiration for Hughes, and speaks about specific instances in which he feels most connected to him through experiences and themes, specifically the blues. The blues was a genre of music, or even storytelling, that emerged from the deep south during the many long years of slavery in America, Hughes drew on these themes and rhythms in his own work which deeply resonated with Black people/writers. Salaam explains his interpretation of Hughes’ use of the blues in his works, saying “The ultimate fragility of our condition–this is what Hughes recognized and wrote about. He called it the “weary blues” (Collected Poems, 50), but he also understood that in some fortuitous moments, on some ephemeral occasions, our lifelong weariness is lined by an unfading, albeit brief, royal blue” (Salaam, page 2). Salaam outlines Hughes’ great understanding of Black suffering, and how he utilizes a theme like the blues to underline the beauty and resilience that shines through the cracks of their past. Salaam continues the discussion, arguing “That was the essence of Hughes’s poetic oeuvre, which describes the entwined essence of a weary blues with shades of royal blue reflected in its wrecks and ruins; the royalty of a humanness that surmounts the wretchedness of monetary exchange.” (Salaam, page 3). Hughes did not aim to direct people to disregard or detest the dark, “weary blue”, past of the
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Black people in America, rather he aimed to encourage people to see the beauty hiding within that history.
In conclusion Langston Hughes was arguably one of the most influential Black writers in history, his deep understanding and care for Black culture, words, and bodies put him on a pedestal that I would argue he still sits on today. He aimed to inspire and ignite a spark in young Black people to kick start their futures with the idea that they are not only their skin color, and if they are going to be perceived as such to wear it with pride. Hughes played a huge role in radicalizing my ideology about literature, perhaps my former teachers had a different context in mind when referring to his work as such, but I’m thankful they were right. As David Ward concluded, “Hughes and countless others have demonstrated, the workings of the mind and pen cannot be restricted or hemmed in, the river of words will always burst the bank and set a new river course, changing the scenery, creating new vistas.” (Ward, page 1).
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Works Cited
Hughes, Langston. “Theme For English B”, The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Knopf. 1951
Jordan, June. “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and The Future Life of Willie Jordan.”,
Harvard Educational Review, vol. 58, no. 3, 1988, pp. 363–375.
Miller, R Baxter. “Langston Hughes: When Language Turns History.” Langston Hughes
Review, vol.26, no.2, fall 2020, pp.160+. Gale Academic, OneFile.
Salaam, Kalamu Ya. “Langston Hughes- Our Poet Supreme.” The Langston Hughes
Review, vol. 27, no.2, 2021, pp.224
Ward, C David. “Why Langston Hughes Still Reigns as a Poet For The Unchampioned”
Smithsonian Magazine, May 22, 2017,
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-langston-hughes-still-reigns-poet -unchampioned-180963405/
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