Studying these African American poets in class has definitely been interesting. In these few short weeks, I've learned how these poets used their opinion to control their writings. By this, you can feel almost feel the personal anguish and sorrow some of the poets had felt during this time period. Poetry simply does that to people. It's a scapegoat to putting all your deepest thoughts and feelings. I guess you could say that about blogging in todays generation even though some of it might not be as personal.
Langston Hughes was definitely an outspoken poet about what he believed. The themes he used within his poetry mirrored the direct emotions of the world he grew up in. The use of culture around this time period when he wrote his poetry or shortly there after was prevalent throughout his writings and he sent a huge message to his readers by doing so. He was so outspoken in his writing that people would maybe turn or shake their heads at it today.
A lot of the poems that were written showed not only the tragedy of the time period but also the personal heartache he had from society. But another thing I found very interesting was the depth of historical background that was written in his poetry. His poem "Negro" showed just that. Lines such as "Caesar told me to keep his door steps clean. I brushed the boots of Washington." and "All the way from Africa to Georgia I carried my sorrow songs. I made ragtime" showed how the times were changing for this group of people. It not only showed background but the intensive roots of where they came from.
I guess you could compare this kind of passion to Gertrude Stein's as she promoted feminism within her writings. This subject too was not easily the most accepted thing and the world and may have appeared controversial at times. You could almost take any modern era writer and see that they have some kind of passion that they feel needs to be expressed. Whether the reader agrees with it or not is not really their problem. If it causes some form of controversy then their works will be shown through publicity no matter what.
Interesting connection between Hughes and Stein. Makes sense in light of the fact that they were both minorities writing to gain literary presence amongst the dominant white males. The reflection you made about Hughes and Negro was enlightening in that you show the significance of change in place and change in current culture (from Africa to Georgia) and yet the poem still ends with the African roots.
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