I, too
Langston Hughes’ poem “I, Too” was published in 1926 in his first volume of poetry, “The Weary Blues”.
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on 1 February 1901 in Joplin, Missouri, US, and he died on 22 May 1967 in New York City, US, at the age of 66.A poet, novelist, playwright, columnist, and social activist, Langston Hughes was one of the earliest innovators of jazz poetry and a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. A prolific writer from an early age, he moved to New York City as a young man and gained attention from local publishers. As the civil rights movement was gaining traction during the 1940s to 1960s, Hughes wrote an in-depth weekly column in a leading black newspaper, The Chicago Defender.
External links:
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.
Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then.
Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed —
I, too, am America.