Langston Hughes

1902-1967

Langston Hughes is the most outstanding representative of Negro proletarian writers in the United States. He was born in 1902 in a small town in the State of Missouri. His father soon left his family and went to live to Mexico. His mother worked as a cook. When still a boy Langston had to begin working in order to be able to finish high school. After finishing school Hughes entered the Columbia University in New York, but soon he had to leave it because he had no money to pay for his studies there. So he went in search of a job. He tried different kinds of work. He worked on a farm as a driver, then he sold flowers. In the end he became a sailor on a ship that was going to Africa.

For several years Hughes stayed abroad: in Africa, France and Italy. His life there was very hard. He had no special trade or profession and could not find a good job. Very often he had no place to sleep and nothing to eat.

In 1924 Hughes returned to the USA. His mother lived in Washing­ton and Hughes got a job at a laundry there. They lived in the Negro slums and Hughes saw the hard life of the Negroes in the American capital.

At this period Hughes began to write poems. He showed them to other Negro poets and one of them published his poem in a newspaper. This was in 1926 and from that time on Hughes became famous. His first collection of poems was called "The Weary Blues". He was working at a restaurant then as a dish washer and the reporters photographed him there with dirty plates in his hands. Hughes' poems are very lyrical with elements of Negro folklore in them. [94]

Later Hughes published several collections of poems, many short stories and articles, some plays, as well as a novel "Not Without Laughter" (1930) which is partly autobiographical. It gives the iife story of a poor Negro boy, Sandy Rogers, who lives in a small American town. His childhood and youth are typical of the life of thousands of American Negro boys.

Langston Hughes' early literary work was not free from political mistakes. Like many Negro writers of that time he thought that all the white people were enemies of the blacks. Later he changed his opinion and called on the Negro people to unite with the poor whites and struggle together.

In 1932 Hughes visited the USSR. His visit to the Soviet Union produced a great impression on him. With his own eyes he saw the important changes that socialism had brought to the people of our country. When he returned to America, he wrote a book "A Negro Looks at Soviet Central Asia" (1934) and two volumes of verse: "Good Morning, Revolution" (1933) and "A New Song" (1938). The poems in this book were written under strong influence of Mayakovsky.

Later Hughes visited republican Spain. He took an active part in the struggle against fascism during World War II.

In those days Hughes wrote poems and articles that showed his hatred for German fascism. In postwar years together with other Negro writers he devoted his literary work to the struggle for peace and democracy. All his life he was one of the most progressive public figures and writers in the USA.

One of his best collections of short stories is named "The Ways of White Folks" (1934). Here the writer shows the relations between the white people and the Negroes in the South of the United States. The story "Home" also belongs to this collection.