African American History in the Poems of Langston Hughes Essay

African American History in the Poems of Langston HughesLangston Hughes was an African American poet who was one of the first corrosive voices to be heard in America. He was distinct among his genesis with his writing about the blacks experiences andhistory. His insolence of his race and history was apparent in most of hisworks.In his poem, The lightlessness Speaks of Rivers his pride of his history andcivilization is apparent by the repetition of the pronoun I in mostof the lines. He is proud that his roots go back to the pastcivilizations which whither associated with the great Rivers of Asia andAfrica namely the Euphrates, the Nile and the congo.Hughes repeats, Ive known rivers which indicates the connection ofblack pack with the beginning of human history. He alsorepeats, My soul has grown deep like the rivers which suggests the experience that is related to rivers it also suggests that his soul bearsthe imprint of the sufferings of slaveholding and racism.The poem implies t he whole history of African Americans slaverywithout mentioning the word itself. He narrates this history from thebeginning of time, when he bathed in the Euphrates and built hishut near the Congo as he was living a normal life. Then he lookedupon the Nile and raised the Pyramids above it, as the building ofthe Pyramids was the act of slaves. Then Abe Lincoln went come out to NewOrleans, this precise line implies the blacks history of slavery inAmerica. It tells of existence of the slavery for a long period inAmerica and of the efforts to stamp out it, which ended by the Civil Warin 1865 and Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation for freeing theslaves. Therefore, it is the history of people who were fr... ...Dreams. Since dreams are the first step in any act, then blackpeople have to dream in order to gain their freedom which issymbolized here by the bird.He also hints in the poem at the oppression of white people to blacks.He considers America a barren range that is devoid of warm feelingsand mercy. This barren field is gelid with snow this symbolizesthe white people who practise all sorts of oppression on the blackrace.Thus, it is evident that Langston Hughes in his poetry aimed atsending a subject matter to the audience who most of them were whites. He wastelling them about the history and civilization of the AfricanAmericans. He was dissertation of the blacks sufferings from slavery,discrimination and racism. He was aiming at showing his pride of hisblack ancestry and the contributions of the black people to theAmerican civilization. African American History in the Poems of Langston Hughes probeAfrican American History in the Poems of Langston HughesLangston Hughes was an African American poet who was one of the firstblack voices to be heard in America. He was distinct among hiscontemporaries with his writing about the blacks experiences andhistory. His pride of his race and history was apparent in most of hisworks.In his poem, The Negr o Speaks of Rivers his pride of his history andcivilization is apparent by the repetition of the pronoun I in mostof the lines. He is proud that his roots go back to the ancientcivilizations which where associated with the great Rivers of Asia andAfrica namely the Euphrates, the Nile and the Congo.Hughes repeats, Ive known rivers which indicates the connection ofblack people with the beginning of human history. He alsorepeats, My soul has grown deep like the rivers which suggests thewisdom that is related to rivers it also suggests that his soul bearsthe imprint of the sufferings of slavery and racism.The poem implies the whole history of African Americans slaverywithout mentioning the word itself. He narrates this history from thebeginning of time, when he bathed in the Euphrates and built hishut near the Congo as he was living a normal life. Then he lookedupon the Nile and raised the Pyramids above it, as the building ofthe Pyramids was the act of slaves. Then Abe Lincoln went dow n to NewOrleans, this precise line implies the blacks history of slavery inAmerica. It tells of existence of the slavery for a long period inAmerica and of the efforts to abolish it, which ended by the Civil Warin 1865 and Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation for freeing theslaves. Therefore, it is the history of people who were fr... ...Dreams. Since dreams are the first step in any act, then blackpeople have to dream in order to gain their freedom which issymbolized here by the bird.He also hints in the poem at the oppression of white people to blacks.He considers America a barren field that is devoid of warm feelingsand mercy. This barren field is frozen with snow this symbolizesthe white people who practise all sorts of oppression on the blackrace.Thus, it is evident that Langston Hughes in his poetry aimed atsending a message to the audience who most of them were whites. He wastelling them about the history and civilization of the AfricanAmericans. He was speaking of the blacks sufferings from slavery,discrimination and racism. He was aiming at showing his pride of hisblack ancestry and the contributions of the black people to theAmerican civilization.