Maya Angelou And Langston Hughes

In the 1920’s many African American were searching for a refuge to escape from racism,discrimination, and violence. Many went to place called Harlem, a neighborhood in New York, where they commenced a new style of art, writing, and music. This was known as the Harlem Renaissance, where African Americans had their chance to be known for their skill. Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, were some of the important people who help express the African culture through writing and and music. They became an important figure in the birth of the Harlem renaissance. Even today they are remembered for their African American cultural success.

Maya Angelou was an inspiring activist, poet, and woman. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. Throughout her lifetime she explored her career options as an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and editor among many other careers. Angelou had a tough childhood. Her parents divorced when she was very young and she was sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas along with her brother Bailey. As an African American, Angelou experienced discrimination and racial prejudices. Angelou gave birth to her son Guy, at the age of sixteen and married her first husband Tosh Angelos, at the age of twenty-four. Angelou and Tosh divorced years later however, she did get married a couple of more times. Angelou experienced many

While they were born in different centuries, Maya Angelou and Sojourner Truth led parallel fights for African American equality. Despite living in different time periods, both of these women laid the groundwork for activists to come. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in 1797, she later escaped which led her to become an abolitionist to fight for the freedom of others. Maya Angelou was born almost 150 years later in 1928, and faced much of the same hate-fuelled racism. Living in the south during the Civil Rights Era pushed Angelou to become an activist to fight for those without a voice. Through peaceful protest using poetry, both Truth and Angelou made progress in their fight for equality of African Americans and complete social

Maya Angelou was born on April 28, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri to Bailey and Vivian Johnson. Her given name was Marguerite Ann Johnson, but she was nicknamed “Maya” by her older brother. Over the course of her life, Angelou had many jobs ranging from a fry cook to a sex worker. She broke through as both an author and poet with her publication of her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. (Wikipedia.com) From that point on, Maya Angelou would become a very prominent figure in American literature.

Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks are regarded as highly influential poets in African American literature, which continues to inspire writers to this day. Langston Hughes is a well-known pioneer of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement in which African Americans in Harlem during post World War I and the early 1930’s began a cultural and artistic revolution. During this time, African American musicians, artists, writers, and poets revolutionized their position in and through many artistic fields of expression. This cultural and artistic revolution redefined how America viewed the African American population, which garnered respect and criticism from Americans nationwide. Gwendolyn Brooks, an African American poet also in the 19th century, was introduced to Langston Hughes at a young age peeking her interest in the Harlem Renaissance that eventually became a foundation and influence in her writing. Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes share similarities in the writing as she was highly inspired by Langston Hughes, but also share many differences that are responsible for making their pieces of writing unique to other authors and each other.

“The era of the Harlem Renaissance is: a name that was given to the cultural, social, and artist explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of world war 1 and the middle of the 1930s. During this period, Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artist, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars”. (www. Pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow\” stories. Events_

Poets have written love poems for centuries with the first said to be around 1000BC. But what is love? It is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘ to have attachment to and affection for’. However, after studying various love poems, I have found that love is portrayed in many different ways. It can be possessive, hateful and pure and the fact that William Shakespeare said ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’ suggests that love is more complicated than a simple dictionary definition.

The tone was regretful. It allowed the reader to believe that it was possible the narrator was wishful at the thought of having the possibly of two choices and having possibly made the wrong one. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both”

Neither Langston Hughes nor Maya Angelou were just poets in the world of the twentieth century but instead heroes and leaders who showed the world that race wasn 't what made you but whom you are instead. Though both grew up during times and events in the world, both have similar ideas while also different.

Maya Angelou is a writer and a civil right activist. In addition, she’s a poet and award-winning author known for her numerous poetry and essay collections. Angelou received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Award in outstanding literary work category. (Biography.com) Beyond her poetic days she was an actress, songwriter, and dancer. As an African American, Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudice and discrimination in Arkansas. She also suffered at the hands of a family associate around the age of 7 raped by her mother boyfriend. Traumatized by the experience she became a virtual mute. (biography.com) Maya Angelou have faced many tribulations in life and expressed it through her poetic writing. The style

Regardless of the fact that Maya Angelou´s life was full of troubles and pain, she still arose from all and became one of the strongest writers and African American Activists. ¨ Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis Missouri on April 4th , 1928 . When her parents separated , her and her brother went off to live with their grandma in Stamps, Arkansas . Her grandmother was one of the very few African American who had own her own general store. Although her grandmother was a big part of her life especially when it came to self- confidence , unfortunately Maya had went to visit in St. Louis and happened to be raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of eight. This made Maya Angelou feel completely worthless. When her uncles founded out that this happened, they went and beaten him to death . Although the man could never touch her again , Maya Angelou felt that it was her fault of his death due to telling his name . This made Angelou not speak for around 5 years. ¨

Maya Angelou, and Lanston Hughes two very different people with very similar views. This essay contains the comparison between the two poets. How they are slightly different, but all around are mainly the same. Throughout history there has been many wrong doings towards African American people. Assault, Segregation, Slavery...These are just a few different things that black people had to overcome throughout the years. Angelou and Hughes are both African American poets known for their contribution within black history, and are also those who have written about the suffering of African Americans. “Africa” written by Maya Angelo is a poem which expresses the grave injustice done to Africa by the Europeans. Whereas “Negro” written by Lanston Hughes is a poem which capitalizes on the history of African Americans throughout time. Even though both of these poems have different focuses, they reveal similarities. Each poem in their own way express the feeling in the way “black people” have been viewed, and what they have had to go through. Angelou, and Hughes talk about these suffering and are able to see a light at the end of a tunnel. They paint a picture to readers that even though they are “Negros” they are still standing, and they will prevail through it all. As readers read these poems they will be able to see each poem tells a different story, which ends up being the same story.

Langston Hughes was one of the most influential american poets of his century. His main purpose writing poetry and novels was to promote social and economic equalities for African-Americans during that time period. James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin Missouri. As he got older, he moved to New York City to attend Columbia University to study engineering. Langston ended up dropping out of the program and decided to pursue his passion for writing. He traveled to many different places including Africa, Venice, Paris, and Genoa working as a seaman. After Langston’s countless number of odd jobs and many different adventures, he settled down temporarily in Washington D.C at the young age of 22 and published his first

Langston Hughes was a novelist, playwright, poet, and social activist. He was born in Joplin, Missouri in Feb 1 1902. Hughes is considered the father of beat poetry. He was a major contributor to as a leader to the Harlem Renaissance, during which, he wrote about the era when being an African-American was becoming mainstream, which was later known as the Golden Age of Harlem.

In history, poems have always been an outlet for writers to express their emotions in the most pure and flowing forms of writing. Poems have always been an egression for writers to vent about the struggles they are going through economically, physically, mentally, how they are treated in society or sometimes poems are more peaceful and address loved ones, the wonders of life, and talk about positive commodities. Poems however, are a type of writing that the reader really has to concentrate and focus on what the author is trying to express and what the true meaning is behind the words on the paper. Two of the most widely known poets in history, especially American History, are Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Some of their most extensively