Civil Rights Movement Was a Term Paper

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In 1934 he published his first collection of short stories, entitled, the Ways of White Folks, which provided a series of short insights into the humorous and tragic interactions between the two races. During this time Hughes also established several theater groups in such cities as Los Angeles and Chicago. In 1935 he also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which he used to help begin to write scripts for movies and plays. However, his dreams to create black films were stifled by the rampant racism of Hollywood. (Hughes, 1993; 122).

Shortly before his death, Hughes was awarded the Spingham Medal for distinguished achievements by an African-American from the NAACP. In 1961 he was inducted into the National Institute of Arts and Letters and, in 1971, the City College of New York awarded the first Langston Hughes Medal. (Hutson, 96).

One of Hughes most recognized poems is the work entitled Montage of a Dream Deferred, which was published in 1951. It goes:

"What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

or fester like a sore

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

or crust and sugar over Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

Like a heavy load.

or does it explode?

This poem is powerful because it summarizes the African-American experience during the lifetime of Langston Hughes.

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It puts forth the question of what happens to the iconic American Dream when society refuses to let it become a reality for African-Americans? Essentially Hughes says that it either rots away or it eventually explodes, which considering the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, his foreshadowing was correct. (Hughes, 1994; 48).

Studying Langston Hughes shows the role that strong and widely recognized African-American leaders played in the Civil Rights movement. Such leaders as Langston Hughes, who was pre-Martin Luther King Jr., laid the ground work for the 1960s movement. Without individuals like Langston Hughes, the civil rights movement could not have occurred as in order for a movement to start within a democracy, it must start not with the government, but with the people.

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