I, Too
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Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is the poet laureate of African-American experience — a popular writer of the Harlem Renaissance who gave hopeful . . . MORE »
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is the poet laureate of African-American experience — a popular writer of the Harlem Renaissance who gave hopeful . . . MORE »
By Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes, “I, Too” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1994 by The Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted with the permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.