Langston Hughes' Poems

Langston Hughes’ Poem

Langston Hughes’ poems circle around racialism issues. For an instant, ‘Cross’ talks about stereotype of which the victim in the poem being neither black or white,  ‘Dinner Guest: Me’ gives the ground of which an American should not be judged by their skin colour and in  ‘Harlem’, frustration characterized the mood of black Americans for being relegated to second class citizenship.

As I read through Hughes’ poems, I think that the same concerns of the African American are experienced by other marginalized ethnic groups. In Malaysia where there are different races and ethnics, Hughes poems are very useful to inculcate the moral value and the importance of unity in students and hence, promote harmony in the whole nation. If I’m to use Hughes’s poems in the classroom, I would very much like to use the song of ‘Satu Malaysia’ as closure to my lesson and ask my students to sing along hands in hands.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mt6SRH8tIQ&noredirect=1