Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEGRO by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES

Poet Analysis

First Line: I AM A NEGRO
Last Line: BLACK LIKE THE DEPTHS OF MY AFRICA.
Subject(s): AFRICAN AMERICANS; BLACKS - HISTORY; NEGROES; AMERICAN BLACKS;
I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black,
Black like the depths of my Africa.

I've been a slave:
Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean.
I brushed the boots of Washington.

I've been a worker:
Under my hand the pyramids arose.
I made mortar for the Woolworth Building.

I've been a singer:
All the way from Africa to Georgia
I carried my sorrow songs.
I made ragtime.

I've been a victim:
The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo.
They lynch me still in Mississippi.

I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black,
Black like the depths of my Africa.





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