The Life and Times of Langston Hughes
The story begins when Hughes was almost thirteen, his aunt took him to a “revival” at her church, Hughes and some other children were there to be brought to Christ. All the children had to sit on the mourners’ bench, and waited for their moment to come to the altar. Hughes’s aunt explained the experience to him in detail and Hughes himself had heard old people explain the experience. They explained, when you were saved you saw a light, something would happen inside you, and Jesus would then come into your life to be there forever. She explained to Hughes, you could feel Jesus in your soul, and that was exactly the way Hughes expected the experience to be like.
The preacher started to preach and it was a great sermon he then directed his attention to the children sitting on the mourners’ bench. The little girls responded immediately and went to Christ, but Hughes and a few other children sat there. Because Hughes and some of the other children did not come to Christ, the old women of the church gathered around them to pray. It wasn’t long before all the other children went up to be saved, except Hughes and a boy name Westley. They now had the attention of the entire church; Westley got tired of sitting there so he gave in and went up to be saved. After Westley went up, Hughes sat on the mourners’ bench alone. The entire congregation was praying for Hughes, but he kept sitting there hoping something would happen. Hughes’s aunt cried, as the preacher asked, “Why don’t you come and be saved?” It was now late and Hughes started feeling bad for holding everyone up. He wondered what God must have thought of him because of this. Westley, who had now gone up, stared at Hughes in his knickerbockers, grinning. Hughes knew Westley had not seen Christ and nothing happened to him God did not strike him dead. So Hughes finally decided not to prolong the service any longer and lied like Westley did; he got up to be saved. Hughes would never be the same after that day, and what he thought about God and religion would never be the same. Now, because of this experience Hughes did not believe in GOD.
Langston Hughes was a prominent African American poet, novelist, playwright, and columnist in the 20th Century. Hughes was best known for his work in the Harlem Renaissance era. He was one of the innovators in the then new literary art form called “jazz poetry”. The Harlem Renaissance era occurred between 1919, when World War I ended, and 1929 shortly after the stock market crash and the Great Depression. It was a period when African American culture, including art and literature, made great strides intellectually, and made significant contributions to American culture in general. Harlem was the part of New York City, where many African Americans moved to for several reasons, but mainly to escape segregation and violence in the South. Harlem also provided the best accommodation available for African Americans in the U.S., which made it the hub for artists, writers, musicians and important African American leaders. (“Harlem Renaissance”) Hughes flourished in this environment, and certainly developed his own ideologies on many topics. Overall, he broke from tradition, culturally on religion, politics and perhaps even sexuality. His literary work displayed a wide variety of voices, styles, and themes, as well as defining moments in his life that shaped many of his philosophies.
Hughes was raised by his grandmother since his parents were divorced but when Hughes’s grandmother died, he moved in with his mother and step-father in Illinois. However, it wasn’t long before the family moved to Ohio and then on to Chicago, but Hughes decided to stay in Ohio to finish high school. By age 18, Hughes’s writing talents were beginning to be recognized. His English teacher introduced him to other popular poets of that time and they became his earliest influences. He honed his skills, writing for the school magazine called The Monthly, and it wasn’t long before he was on the staff publishing the magazine. Hughes’s biological father was living in Mexico, and by his senior year in high school wanted his son to come live with him. Hughes stayed in Mexico with his father for the summer, and returned back to Ohio to finish high school. After graduation, he returned to Mexico to live with his father. Hughes and his father did not always get along. His father had a low opinion of African Americans who chose to stay in the U.S., but Hughes was “pro-black” and believed you shouldn’t have to live in Mexico to have civil rights. Hughes’s father also wanted him to be an engineer, but his dream was to be a writer, and by this time his writing had matured. Despite their differences in opinion Hughes convinced his father to pay for college. He went to Columbia University, but left after a year because of the racism he experienced. When he left the college, he worked as a crewman on a ship where he traveled to Europe, West Africa and Paris. By this time Hughes was regularly publishing his work in magazines and winning literary contests. ("Langston Hughes Biography")