On today in 1902, Langston Hughes was born James Mercer Langston Hughes in Joplin, Missouri. He was a poet social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. Hughes is one of the innovators of jazz poetry. He was also a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes died in 1967 from abdominal surgery, related to prostate cancer. His ashes are held beneath a floor medallion in the middle of the foyer in the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. Some of Hughes most notable poems are Mother to Son, Negro, I, TOO, The Dream Keeper, The Negro Speaks to Rivers, My People, and Dreams.
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