Happy Black History Month!
My goal is to read at least one poem by an African-American author per day.
If you have any ideas for poems to read, let me know in the comments. Thank you!
(The image is in courtesy of All Poetry: https://allpoetry.com/poem/8574671-Langston-Blues-by-Dudley-Randall)
The poem is a lament for the death of Langston Hughes, an iconic figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Randall mourns the loss of Hughes’s vibrant personality and his unique ability to bring joy to others through his words. The poem is structured as a series of short, evocative stanzas, each of which focuses on a different aspect of Hughes’s character. The final stanza ends with a call to sing a “Langston Blues,” a testament to the enduring legacy of Hughes’s work and his impact on the world.
Compared to Randall’s other works, this poem is more personal and elegiac. Unlike his more overtly political poems, this one focuses on the loss of a fellow artist and the impact of his death on the community. Historically, the poem reflects the sense of loss and mourning that permeated the Harlem Renaissance after Hughes’s death in 1967. It also highlights the importance of Hughes’s work in shaping the identity of African Americans during a time of significant social and cultural change.
