How Writing Affects People
La' Toya T. Bentick
Do you enjoy reading poetry or any other types of literature? African Americans use poetry and writing to deal with their struggle for civil rights. Langston Hughes used poetry to communicate his personal experiences and feelings during the Harlem Renaissance.
Poems and writing are important to the history of African Americans because they help readers relate to the poets and the reader's lives. For example, in the poem Mother to Son, Langston Hughes says, "it had splinters and boards torn up and places with no carpet on the floor…" This quote means that even though people may think that your life is great it could be bad. Another quote in the poem talks about perseverance and not giving up. "I'se been a climbin' on and reaching landin's, and turning corners…" It tells you to hold on. It continues to say "so, boy, don't you turn back…for I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin'." This poem tells you to strive and try to reach your goals and not to give up. Because this poem speaks of perseverance, it allows the audience to possibly appeal to every ones lives.
Emotions vary upon a situation, from reading something that makes you think positive thoughts to reading something that makes you feel heart broken. For example, in the poem Minstrel Man, by Langston Hughes, there is a quote that I like: "you do not think I suffer after I've held my pain so long. Because my mouth is wide with laughter, you do not hear my inner cry?" To me this means people don't pay attention to what others feel on the inside. The reason this quote is appealing is because a lot of people can relate to it. Many people think that because you hold your head up high, and you act happy, that your life has no down points. When you read this, and you relate to it, you may find a tear drop sliding out of your eye because you know that you're not the only one that feels this way. Don't be ashamed to let out your emotions. Getting out your emotions is a way of communicating, and Hughes' quote illustrates this point of emotional vulnerability.
Poems are not only used for reading, they are also a source of communication. In the poem Cultural Exchange, also by Langston Hughes, it talks about the culture of "negroes." The reason why I picked this poem is because sharing information about something is a way of communicating. "Push carts fold and unfold in a super market sea and we better find out mama, where is the colored Laundromat. Since we moved up to mount Vernon." This quote is communicating with the outside world. It is letting you know about the push carts and that the need to "communicate" to find the colored Laundromat. It's basically like Langston Hughes is sitting talking to you about the things that went on. He's trying to make it as though he is being a communicator to the outside world. Or as if he is telling you a story, by bringing the outside world/ the reader into his personal reality poems. Readers can't go there but can in the form of a poem. They can imagine the location although they may not be able to travel there.
Given these facts, you should now know why I feel that writing played an important role in the history of African Americans, especially during the Harlem Renaissance. Expressing emotions is not only for one race. Thoughts and communication can be spread from one race to the other. Poems and writing are important to every one, as they allow the reader to connect with the experience of the writer of the rest of the world. Poems allow connections to the past and present, the internal and external.