Langston Hughes was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Besides being a prominent poet, he also authored novels, short stories, essays, and plays. 

It was a vibrant movement of Black intellectual, literary, and artistic expression in the 1920s, primarily centered in Harlem and other American cities. 

He aimed to honestly depict the joys and struggles of working-class Black life, steering clear of both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes. 

Sharing one of his poems here, “I look at the world” - 

I look at the world

From awakening eyes in a black face—

And this is what I see:

This fenced-off narrow space   

Assigned to me.

I look then at the silly walls

Through dark eyes in a dark face—

And this is what I know:

That all these walls oppression builds

Will have to go!

I look at my own body   

With eyes no longer blind—

And I see that my own hands can make

The world that's in my mind.

Then let us hurry, comrades,

The road to find.