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Langston Hughes. What is Langston famous for?. He was a famous American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry.
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What is Langston famous for? • He was a famous American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. • Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "Harlem was in vogue” I been scared and battered.My hopes the wind done scattered.Snow has frizz me,Sun has baked me,Looks like between 'emthey doneTried to make meStop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--But I don't care!I'm still here!
Background • Langston Hughes began writing in high school, and even at this early age was developing the voice that made him famous. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, but lived with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas until he was thirteen and then with his mother in Lincoln, Illinois and Cleveland, Ohio where he went to high school.
1921/1936 • 1921 “Negro speaks of rivers” published in NAACP • 1936 “not with out laughter” novel was published
Why is Langston still famous today? • For his intelligence and bravery • From his poems and novels • Hughes is remembered because of his good accomplishments and because of when he gave hope and pride during the Harlem Renaissance
I Continue To Dream • I take my dreams and make of them a bronze vaseand a round fountain with a beautiful statue in its center.And a song with a broken heart and I ask you:Do you understand my dreams?Sometimes you say you do,And sometimes you say you don't.Either way it doesn't matter.I continue to dream
Essential Facts • Hughes was raised primarily by his grandmother. • Hughes’ father wanted him to become an engineer, so Hughes attended Columbia for a time. He left because of racial intolerance and because he wanted to spend more time writing in Harlem • He graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1929. Among his classmates was future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall • For a number of years, Hughes was attracted to some of the political philosophies of the Communist Party. Though accused of being a member, he never actually joined • Hughes died of prostate cancer in 1967 at the age of 65. His ashes are buried in Harlem under a special medallion in the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture