Langston Hughes, Chicago Reader.
LITERATURE
One of these artists was Langston Hughes, a writer well-known for his poetry during the Renaissance.
"But, to my mind, it is the duty of the younger Negro artist, if he accepts any duties at all from outsiders, to change through the force of his art that old whispering "I want to be white," hidden in the aspirations of his people, to "Why should I want to be white? I am a Negro–and beautiful!"
~ Langston Hughes, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Hughes wrote poetry to represent the scenes of daily life for African Americans, including many of discrimination, empowering African Americans to be fearless.
"Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, For when dreams go, Life is a barren field, Frozen with snow."
~ Langston Hughes, Dreams
"Where is the Jim Crow section, On this merry-go-round, Mister, cause I want to ride? Down South where I come from, White and colored, Can't sit side by side... But there ain't no back, To a merry-go-round! Where's the horse, For a kid that's black?"
~ Langston Hughes, Merry-Go-Round
Hughes never shied away from conveying the truth in his writing. He neither attempted to exaggerate nor glorify, which attracted many critics but ultimately conveyed African American life for what it was.
"'Oh, be respectable, write about nice people, show how good we are,' say the Negroes. 'Be stereotyped, don't go too far, don't shatter our illusions about you, don't amuse us too seriously. We will pay you,' say the whites."
~ Langston Hughes, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Zora Neal Hurston, another prominent writer, emphasized the beauty contained in every African American and instilled a sense of self-love in the race.
"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me."
~ Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston, Britannica.
The authors, book writers, and poets of the Harlem Renaissance expressed the pride and brilliance of African Americans. Literature provided a platform for African American writers to challenge the negative stereotypes of racism that they faced, the fundamentals for a movement that would ultimately cross those frontiers.