Langston Huges

            Langston Hughes is considered by many readers to be the most significant black poet of the twentieth century. He is described as the adored author of poems steeped in the richness of African American culture; poems that display Hughes affection for black Americans across all divisions of region, class, and gender (Rampersad 3). His writing was both depressing and inspiring at times. His poetry, spanning five decades from 1926 to 1967, reflected the changing black experience in America, from the Harlem Renaissance to the confused sixties. .
             At the beginning of his career, he was surrounded by the Harlem Renaissance. New York City in the 1920's was a place of immense growth and richness in African-American culture. For Hughes, this was the perfect opportunity to establish his poems. His early work reflects the happy times of the era. However, as time progressed he became increasingly bitter and upset over race relations. Except for a few examples, all his poems from this later period spoke about social injustice in America. The somber tone of his writing often reflected his mood. Race relations were the shadow of his career, following him from his first poem to his last. The tone and subject matter of Hughes' poetry can be linked to certain points in history, and his life. .
             The youth of Hughes is brought out by his poem "Harlem Night Club-, a piece that describes living in the moment. Often children do not consider the consequences of their actions; they act on instinct and desire. Hughes might have been twenty-seven when he wrote this poem, but the spirited, upbeat tempo of a schoolboy is present in his style (Emanuel 127). "Harlem Night Club- is unique in that it describes the integration of blacks and whites in a positive tone. Evidence of Hughes' youth comes from the very focus of the poem: the interracial couples. The entire poem can be summed up as ".a single-glance tableau of interracial flirtation against a background of heady jazz- (Emanuel 120).