Civil rights history and movements

Civil Rights movement was a success because of the action of individuals, particularly intellectual African-American leaders. Without these figures, the civil rights movement would not have been a success. The reason for this is that these civil rights leaders were generally acceptable to a larger society and thus gained their attention and support. To serve as a case example to prove this point, this paper will look at the influential African-American poet, writer and intellectual, Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes was one of the most influential African-American writers. He was born in 1902 and wrote in a style that often focused on the status of blacks in America and with a look towards freedom. He is best known as a poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer and political columnist. He is often associated with the literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. (Hutson, 96).

Langston Hughes was born in Missouri where he grew up under the African-American tradition of storytelling coming from his mother. His mother also instilled in him a sense of racial pride, a characteristic that would heavily influence his professional writing career. Hughes began writing at a very early age. Even during grammar school in Lincoln, Illinois, Hughes was named Class Poet. During high school he wrote for the school paper and acted as editor of the yearbook. It was during this time that he began to write poetry, dramatic plays and short stories. His first poem, When Sue Wears Red was written during this time. (Ostrom, et. al.).

Hughes attended Columbia University to study engineering, as his father refused to support him financially if Langston pursued a writing career. Hughes attended Columbia until 1922, when he was forced to leave due to prevailing racial prejudices. Following school, Langston found himself becoming active both politically and culturally in the Harlem neighborhood. Hughes died on May 22, 1967 resulting from complications from an abdominal surgery. (Rampersad, 142).

Hughes career as a notable writer began with the 1921 publication of his signature poem of "The Crisis," first published in the Weary Blues, a collection of poetry. It was popularized in the 1926 publication, the Negro Speaks of Rivers. Following his entry into the literary world, Hughes became influential during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. (Ostrom, 34).

What makes Langston Hughes stand out was that he portrayed himself as being unashamedly black during a period when such ideas were not popular. His main concern was with working to better the lives of all African-Americans and used his writing as a method of offering views of what the African-American experience was like. (Joyce, 76).

Hughes published Not Without Laughter, his first novel, in 1930, in which he won the Harmon Gold Medal for literature. In 1934 he published his first collection of short stories, entitled, the Ways of White Folks, which provided a series of short insights into the humorous and tragic interactions between the two races. During this time Hughes also established several theater groups in such cities as Los Angeles and Chicago. In 1935 he also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which he used to help begin to write scripts for movies and plays. However, his dreams to create black films were stifled by the rampant racism of Hollywood. (Hughes, 1993; 122).

Shortly before his death, Hughes was awarded the Spingham Medal for distinguished achievements by an African-American from the NAACP. In 1961 he was inducted into the National Institute of Arts and Letters and, in 1971, the City College of New York awarded the first Langston Hughes Medal. (Hutson, 96).

One of Hughes most recognized poems is the work entitled Montage of a Dream Deferred, which was published in 1951. It goes:

"What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

or fester like a sore

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

or crust and sugar over Like a syrupy sweet?