Langston Hughes the Impact of Thesis

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In "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," Hughes speaks greatly about jazz, noting that the blacks in Harlem are not afraid to be the way that they are, unlike the middle-class blacks who Hughes accuses of constantly trying to act like they are white. One of the aspects of this group that Hughes points to is jazz music, along with gospel music. Thus, Hughes points to jazz as the ideal -- where blacks express themselves freely through their own art. Jazz, then, like racism and race, was a major component of Hughes life that greatly impacts his work.

But while Hughes' lyrical work is the most prominent feature of his life, he was not only a poet and an intellectual. Hughes was, like many blacks during his time, a hard working man, a man who worked at many blue-collar jobs. Fishman states that Hughes had his first job during the seventh grade, where he cleaned a hotel (para. 2). He continued to work at this kind of work until he reached his thirties, when he was finally able to support himself by writing full time. Thus, work was a major part of Hughes life, even after he decided to write full time. During this time, Hughes worked for various newspapers (Fishman para.
3). The fact that Hughes was a workingman, often working at menial jobs, greatly impacted his work. Fishman argues that he "identified with working-class internationalism and to the role of workers in basic social change" (para. 5). The author cites evidence from Hughes's newspaper columns, poetry, and other works to support this viewpoint, suggesting that Hughes "link[s]…his writing with the struggles against racism, working-class exploitation, poetry, war and capitalism" (Fishman 19). Thus, Hughes life impacted his work not only in terms of racism and jazz, but also in terms of working.

As a workingman, poet, lover of jazz, traveler, and intellectual, Langston Hughes made a lasting impression on people of all colors from across the world. Because he led a diverse life, he was able to write diverse and prolific work. Thus, Hughes work was a direct result of his life, a life that was characterized primarily by racism, but also by jazz and working class issues.

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