post reflection

I think it is so interesting the way that Hugh rhymes and creates rhythm. and the fact that his poems could be put to music. What I truly appreciate about Langston Hughes is that he chose to be completely authentic and not just choose one particular image of African Americans he wanted the world to see but rather he just came to his pen as his complete authentic self. I also think it’s interesting he read his poems out loud to audiences more so than any other poet in American history. That tells me a lot about his poetry and I read it differently, understanding that.

I love his honesty about having parents who are two different races and that he writes his honest thoughts about both of them in “Cross” in that he feels sorry for mistreating them regardless of the color of their skin. He then gets deeper in that poem and explains that he fears he does not identify with either race. This makes me understand his other poems better because it makes me understand the internal place he is writing from. In his poem “Daybreak in Alabama”, he writes that if the opportunity arises that he becomes a composer, he will write music about people of all colors joining hands. I think that is so special because he gives a message of hope, instead of a message of fustration. Another thing that makes him special is that he uses humor and language that comes from his culture. A good example of that is in his poem “Hard Luck”. He also writes poems that have nothing to do with being African American with topics such as God being lonely, and the importance of having dreams and what it’s like to be lonely. I also understand and see through his writing that he did not have political views, just moral views. The way he writes is that he makes every party responsible for the caos and does not just make one side the victim; he makes every side just as responsible as the other.

Claude Mckay is different in that he takes pride in his race and his experiences of racism is what triggered his start to poetry. He is very open about his feelings of being victimized. He refers to himself as a man machine and a slave. I am sure that his background of being a slave in Jamaica as well as New York have a lot to do with his upfrontedness about his pain that he experienced in his writing.