Langston Hughes is not just a poet; he is a poet who wrote from the heart. The world of poetry was dominated by Caucasian artists for first part of the 20th century.  Poetry written about the experiences of white people were the only kind of verse most folks had ever heard. The idea of African Americans writing poems about their feelings didn’t emerge until Langston Hughes.  Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri and grew up with his maternal grandmother, Mary Langston, because of parental neglect.  By the time he enrolled at Columbia University, Langston had his poem ”The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” published in the newspaper Crisis; that was a paper edited by W.E.B Dubois.  Hughes committed himself to writing mainly about African Americans.

In 1926 Langston began one of the most important relationships of his life, with collaborator Mrs. Charlotte Mason who supported him for two years.  Mrs. Mason supervised his first novel, "Not without Laughter" (1930).  He also wrote a play called "Mulatto," which opened on Broadway in 1935.  A book that attacked readers the most is "Jim Crows Last Stand" (1943) that was mostly about racial segregation.  Mr. Hughes died of cancer in 1967.

Langston Hughes has earned a place amongst the greatest poets America has ever produced. But more than that, Hughes has given a voice to the African American experience.  Hughes' poetry announces to the world that the streets of black America contained a culture rich and vibrant and fiercely poetic.