Langston Hughes was born at the turn of the century. Hughes spent a rootless childhood moving from place to place with his mother who was separated from his father. During one year in high school, Hughes spent time with his father in Mexico, a light-skinned man who found an escape from racism in ranching. It was in that very high school that Hughes wrote his first poem after being elected "class poet" by his fellow classmates.
His father was James Nathaniel Hughes, a man who studied law but was unable to take the examination for the bar because he was black. His mother was Carrie Hughes, a woman who studied at the University of Kansas, in an ongoing struggle to earn a living outside of domestic labor. With aid from his father, Hughes attended Columbia University, but soon became disgusted with university life and immersed himself in his first loveĀthe poetry, jazz and blues of Harlem.
Hughes supported himself in odd jobs like being a nightclub doorman while he traveled to......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 390
Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |