I first encountered Hughes in an essay called "Bop", once again anthologized for the Best American Essays of the Century. It is a very tongue-in-cheek yet dead-serious analysis of how white folk appropriates black cultural expressions, (such as bop) while the people that originate it suffer racism and police brutality. For class, we read "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain", also very good but perhaps a bit less accessible. In any case, both are concerned with racial identity in general and specifically in the American context.
Of the poets we've studied so far, Hughes is perhaps the first one for whom "personal" does not mean "individual" but actually the opposite; his poetry is all about the collective struggle and identity of his people. His work seeks to generate an outlet for anger as much as a place for a self-narrative of their own, a creative and literal space that has been historically denied to black people in the US (and other places too, but let us stick to Hughes' context). Basically, a way to take charge and express. His language is plain and direct, yet evocative, with an undeniable musical quality stemming from its intertwined roots with bop and jazz.
The group in charge of the class activity did a wonderful collaborative task: we were encouraged to improvise sounds while one member of the team read the poem and another provided signing ad-libs (who, by the way, had a stunning voice). We did this a couple of times, and then debated whether the experience added something and what to the poetry itself. The general consensus was that the musicality is so inherent to the poems that they are best enjoyed with improv background jazz. It was a delightful experience, yet I'm a bit torn.
On the one hand, yes, the words and inseparable from bop/jazz music; their roots and aims are the same. On the other, I got super distracted by the other sounds and did not get anything out of the words themselves until I read them. But that might be a personal issue, because I don't have the best auditory focus or memory. In any case, I did enjoy the experience, which I will remember for a long time and would repeat, so a win all in all.
No matter how you choose to enjoy them, Hughes' work is charming, clever, hypnotic, and I want to call attention to two poems in particular that I love because they highlight the beauty of his people. This is especially relevant in his context: fairness of complexion has historically been seen as a sign of goodness (I mean, look at the common usage of the word nowadays), blackness seen as Other, strange, bad, uncivilized, plain ugly. It's an essential reclaiming, done with beauty and grace, and I cannot wait to purchase a whole collection of his poetry and devour it over and over.
Take a few minutes, read them out loud. Take a walk, sing a song. Share.
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