James Langton Hughes is known as one of the most influential and realistic African-American authors of all time (Dace 8). His works always act as a mirror that reflects the morals and opinions of our society hidden behind superficial facades. Born in 1902 to James and Carrie Langton, and raised by his grandmother due to the constant absence of both his parents who later divorced, James admits that he was able to draw inspiration to write from his moments of pain. Having lived and visited different places in the United States and other continents, James wrote about what he believed to be the evils experienced in a society and rarely addressed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although Langton Hughes' works were phenomenal, he never got the recognition he deserved due to his timing of writing, content, and his lack of identification. and adhering to a specific genre. Hughes is considered the voice of the post-slavery African American community that suffered racial discrimination and segregation. It primarily focused on the lives of poor black people and the struggles they faced in their daily lives. In his famous article "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and his anthology "The New Negro", he focuses on the lives of a population oppressed by slavery by a people who preached love and equality before their eyes of an all-loving God (De Santis 22). He focused on granting freedom to African Americans, but racial segregation and discrimination were embraced (Dace 30). The content of his poem focused on the shame of the lies of the "white people" who, at the time, wanted to be praised for the abolition of slavery and not condemned for adopting discriminatory policies against black people . The timing of his work was also another factor. . Currently, when we look at his work and the rhymes he used, we can hear the voice of a man seeking change and against the oppression of his people. We see the struggles he saw and understand the pain he felt because he expresses it in raw, pure words ((De Santis 22). Conversely, at the time he wrote these words, the oppression and discrimination in society could not allow him to have enough audience to make his point. He was seen as just another angry black man It was at the time. where political and legislative policies had a massive and important influence on the literary industry (Rampersad 1079) which was considered good for them, which in this case did not include a radicalization message. unstable era, where whites felt like they were losing power to former slaves and blacks wanted to fight for what they called equality and an end to discrimination. considered that the best way was not to authorize the publication and publicity of certain articles, poems and books. Finally, Hughes never really focused on one genre. the exposure he gained while traveling the world. For example, when he started, he used jazz rhythm in his poems, which made him famous. Later, when he went to Asia and visited the former Soviet Union, his writing changed to become more narrative than the old jazz rhythm that people were used to. . Yet upon his return to New York, he became involved in writing and producing plays of a completely different genre than the two mentioned above. Eventually, once he had settled in and stopped moving, he wrote historical books that.