Langston Hughes: Words Like Freedom--By Langston Hughes

Friday, March 7, 2008

Words Like Freedom--By Langston Hughes

This project was created for a Digital Video (LAI 536) class at the University at Buffalo. Most participants were not harmed in the making of this video.

Words Like Freedom

There are words like Freedom
Sweet and wonderful to say.
On my heart strings freedom sings
All day everyday.

There are words like Liberty
That almost make me cry.
If you had known what I know
You would know why.

-Langston Hughes (from p. 38 of Poetry For Young People: Langston Hughes)

6 comments:

Ms. Behr said...: That's a really neat video! Great job; March 10, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Unknown said...: really good!; February 23, 2017 at 8:23 PM
Unknown said...: that was good; November 11, 2017 at 3:39 PM
Unknown said...: I love this poem; April 10, 2019 at 3:47 PM
Anonymous said...: cool; November 15, 2019 at 5:07 PM
Unknown said...: lol good job; May 7, 2021 at 7:00 PM

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Hughes' poem on Booker T.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), known for his lyric poetry, often wrote insightful commentaries about African-American culture and race relations in the United States. In this 1941 poem he makes a case for the vindication of educator Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), the former slave and founder of Tuskegee Institute (1881) and the National Negro Business League (1900) who was harshly criticized by many people for emphasizing vocational education as the prerequisite for the political empowerment of black people. In his poem, Hughes stresses the fact that Washington wanted to train the head, the heart, and the hand. He focuses on Washington's practicality and explains the educator's strategy with the statement,
"Sometimes he had compromise in his talk--for a man must crawl before he can walkand in Alabama in '85a joker was luckyto be alive.

This simple poem says so much.I thought Booker T.Washington was a genius in his time.He had foresight that is desperately needed in today's world.Unfortunately, there was a great division of people on Booker's ideals. I think today we are seeing the results of what Booker T. was trying to prevent. Patty

"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes

The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you.
hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me—who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.

Related Readings

Fernandez, Erica. “A View of Harlem Hot Spots during the Great Harlem Renaissance.” Harlem Renaissance: a portrait of culture and society. 17 Feb. 2005
"Booker T. Washington." Notable Black American Men. Gale Research, 1998.
Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. Page by Page Books. 22 Feb. 2005 http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/W_E_B_DuBois/The_Souls_of_Black_Folk/Of_Our_Spiritual_Strivings_p2.html
Fernandez, Erica. “Authors of the Harlem Renaissance.” Harlem Renaissance: a portrait of culture and society. 17 Feb. 2005

The Five Senses

Chapter 7, p. 85 Hughes writes: "You could smelll fiah, an' you could see it red, an' taste de smoke, an' feel it stingin' yo' eyes." He captures all five senses in one sentence. The beauty of it does not end there. He also captures the southern dialect with it's rythmic poectic quality. At times we see poets use omissions of letters like the "d" in and or the "g" in Stinging. It works both as a dialect and an art. This sentense transports me to many different places that I have experienced such a sensory max, however, it effectively brings me to the place that Hughes is describing as well.

Langston Hughes

Friday, March 7, 2008

Words Like Freedom--By Langston Hughes

6 comments:

Hughes' poem on Booker T.

I Dream A World

"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes

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