on langston hughes...

I found the essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" by Langston Hughes extremely interesting. Hughes expresses that he has seen many an African-American artist who is afraid of being his/herself. He writes that "no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself" (1313). This is true for all ethnicities. We always write from what we know, from what we have experienced. Even when we write about what we don't know, our imaginative thinking has been shaped by our backgrounds, our education, our culture, our histories. How can we ever fully express ourselves if we hold back that element of our beings that make us who we are?

With most of Hughes' poetry, there is either a sense of or a direct reference to African-American culture--and mainly within the Harlem Renaissance setting. And I think since Hughes was so deeply connected with this African-American movement, it would be ridiculous if he didn't write about jazz or the life of the "Negro Artist."

I found one of his poems, "The Weary Blues," on the net, and also a video on YouTube that is a great representation of the jazz/blues music and feeling of the Harlem Renaissance. Check it out.