Here are 10 essential poems by Langston Hughes that capture of the heart of America. Written when he was 17 years old on a train to Mexico City to see his father, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers ...

Poet and writer Langston Hughes, famous for his elucidations of Black American life in his poems, stories, autobiographies, and histories, was born in Joplin, Missouri, on Feb. 1, 1901 or 1902.