Langston Hughes was one of the greatest black poets, not just poet but black poet, ever to live. Langston Hughes was proud of his heritage, and he was proud of his color. He did not want the title of poet, but that of black poet. Hughes, in an essay titled "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," speaks of black writers and poets "who surrender racial pride in the name of a false integration." He doesn't want to be mistaken for a white poet. He writes,
             "We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased then we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too...If colored people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either," (The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, p. 2).
             This is a constant theme expressed in his poetry. In his poem "Theme for English B" Hughes wonders "So will my page be colored that I write? Being me, it will not be white." Hughes was a powerful black writer, who always spoke out, in a black voice to help his people through his writing.
             Hughes grew up in a black abolitionist family. He learned early on
             the importance of standing up for himself and his beliefs. He was not afraid to speak out against the injustices he saw, or the hate he was treated with. Hughes became one of the prime figures in the Harlem Renaissance through the force of his writing. He spoke out with a black voice. Through his confidence, others drew the strength to write and publish their works also. Hughes saw the strength of his people, and the beauty they contained. "I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street...[these songs] had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going," (Poet Laureate of Harlem).
             Racism was rampant; many people still wanted to keep blacks ...