I saw this book on Bookstagram and had to get it RIGHT AWAY. At the time, I was going through a heavy "books on journalism" phase and I'm so glad I picked this up! Langston Hughes is one of my favorite authors, so when I found out he wrote for the Chicago Defender, it was an automatic buy. Let's get into it!
SUMMARY
Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender: Essays on Race, Politics, and Culture, 1942-62 is pretty self-explanatory. While Hughes is known as a poet, novelist, playwright and brilliant member of the Harlem Renaissance, he's not regarded as a "thinker."
As a columnist for the famous Black American newspaper, the Chicago Defender, Hughes chronicled the hopes and despair of his people. For 20 years, he wrote about Jim Crow, white supremacy, the South, international race relation, segregation and so much more.
This is the first collection of his nonfiction journalistic writing and gives readers new insights into his poems and fiction.
MY THOUGHTS
As my mother always says "nothing changes but the weather." That is undoubtedly true when we look at books written during this time.
Hughes's thoughts, opinions and views on the world around him are still relevant today. Nothing in this book is outdated. I will admit that I skipped over most of the Soviet Union section, but that's because I really don't care to read about war and politics...I know, I know.
I've read much of Hughes's work and this book showed me that he was someone beyond the "poet low-rate of Harlem" and for that I'm thankful.
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