I, too, am America

For many times some people were considered better than others. For many years the most powerful people from a specific group were the ones who could decide over everything. In many countries people used to see others from different ethnicity as inferior. Because many countries have had slaves during their colonization times black people considered as less important than whites. Of course there has been prejudice against whites and other peoples, too. But the focus on this post is not to defend or to accuse one people nor to make apology to  prejudice and racism. Considering that when people get in trouble they interact and sometimes some produce pieces of art let’s see some important facts about a man who struggled against racism through his life and his poems. But some people get into the fight in many different ways. Some use weapons, some use words.

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He is one of my favourite poets. This man was also connected to jazz and black movement in the USA. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many poems about the period that “the negro was in vogue” which was later paraphrased as “when Harlem was in vogue”, due to the importance of that area to black culture up to these days.

One of his most importante and famous poems is “I, too, sing America” in which he portrays the way whites use to treat and deal with blacks at that time.