Who Was Langston Hughes?

Who Was Langston Hughes?

Find out how a young boy from the Midwest became one of the most important writers and activists of the Harlem Renaissance in this addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series! Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, and was raised by his grandmother, who told him many stories of the Black American experience and taught him to be proud of his race from a young age. With her guidance, Langston went on to become a talented writer in high school, creating dramatic plays, poetry, and articles for the school paper. His career as a writer would continue to blossom. Langston pioneered Jazz Poetry and published nearly twenty poetry books during his lifetime as well as novels, books for children, nonfiction books, and plays. He was an activist and a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance period, alongside Zora Neale Hurston and Countee Cullen. Young readers can learn about Langston's beloved writing, including some of his most famous poems "Dreams" and "The Weary Blues," and his long-lasting legacy in this middle-grade biography. Billy Merrell is an author and poet. His works include Talking in the Dark , Vanilla , and the Infinity Ring Secrets series. Billy is the co-editor of The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities , which received the Lambda Literary Award. Who Was Langston Hughes?     In 1925, twenty-­three­-year-­old Langston Hughes was working as a busboy, clearing tables at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. One day, he read in the newspaper that a very famous poet named Vachel Lindsay was in town. Mr. Lindsay, a white man from Illinois, was scheduled to read his poems at the same hotel where Langston worked. Langston had seen many famous people at the hotel. Important politicians and diplomats stayed there all the time. But they didn’t excite Langston. The idea of meeting a famous poet did. Langston, who wrote poetry every chance he could, desperately wanted to attend the poetry reading. But he knew the hotel didn’t allow Black people into the auditorium. That day, during his shift, Langston saw the poet eating in the dining room. He recognized him from the picture in the newspaper. Langston knew that he could lose his job if he tried to talk to Mr. Lindsay while he was eating, but he had to do something! Langston wrote out three of his own poems and put them in his pocket. When no one was watching, he walked up to Mr. Lindsay. He didn’t know what to say to such a famous poet. So he simply told the man how much he admired his poems. Then Langston reached into his pocket and quietly put his poems on the table. Then he hurried back to the kitchen. Later, while Langston was clearing a table, he saw Mr. Lindsay reading the poems he had handed him! What Langston didn’t know was that Mr. Lindsay later read those poems aloud to the large audience who had come to hear him speak. No one expected Vachel Lindsay to read poems by someone else. Especially not poems by a Black man who worked at the hotel! But the people in the audience liked Langston’s poems. The next morning, on his way to work, Langston read the newspaper again. This time, there was an article about him ! The piece explained that Mr. Lindsay had discovered a “Negro busboy poet.” ( Negro was a word used to describe Black people at the time. Today, it is considered offensive.) When Langston arrived at work, there were reporters waiting. They interviewed him and took his picture. They asked him to pose wearing his white uniform and hat, holding up a tray of dirty dishes in the middle of the dining room. Langston didn’t want to tell the reporters they were wrong. In a sense, Vachel Lindsay had discovered him. It wasn’t often that he had white readers. But in Harlem, a mostly Black neighborhood in New York City, Langston had already been discovered. In fact, he was very well-­known there to a huge Black audience, and his first book was about to come out from a major publisher. The story about Langston Hughes was soon reprinted in newspapers from Maine to Florida. No one had ever heard of a “Negro busboy poet,” and everyone wanted to see what Langston looked like. Langston was happy to have the publicity. Back at the hotel, there was a package waiting for Langston. It contained books that Mr. Lindsay had left for him. The poet had also written Langston a long note, full of helpful advice. Langston followed that advice and quit his job at the Wardman Park Hotel. It wasn’t long before people all over the country—­and the world—­knew about Langston Hughes. Langston went on to be the most famous African American poet there has ever been. In fact, he’s among the most famous American poets of all time. More famous than even Vachel Lindsay.   Chapter 1 Growing Up Black     James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902. Langston’s father had studied law. But he was not a lawyer whe