Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His father was James Nathaniel and his mother was Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes. His grandfather was Charles Langston, an Ohio abolitionist. As a young boy he lived in Buffalo, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Lawrence, Kansas, Mexico City, Topeka, Kansas, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Kansas City, Kansas. In 1914 his parents divorced and he, his mother, and his stepfather moved to Lincoln, Illinois. In high school …showed first 75 words of 930 total…

…showed last 75 words of 930 total…the most talented and famous black writers in his time. Even West Indian poets saw Hughes as the father of the Negritude Movement. It seemed as though Hughes used his writing as his weapon to combat against the ongoing struggle that African-Americans still face today. If it were not for Langston Hughes, African-Americans would not have their current political and social positions today, even though they are not equal to those that white Americans have.