Hughes to Tupac: The Evolution of Black Poetry

Reaching back and searching for the African roots of poetry's greatest poets. They speak of African American pride through their poems uniting the African American people and freeing their souls from the shackles of history. Centuries of slavery, pain, blood, sweat and tears, Langston Hughes and Tupac Shakur, two sons of Africa represent the fight for Black Power and freedom in America. Langston Hughes was an American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry. He is most famous for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. Tupac Shakur was an American rapper who sold over 75 million albums worldwide. According to the Rolling Stone Magazine, he was name 86th Greatest Artist of All Time. Tupac was also very well known for being a social activist for the civil rights movements for African Americans. The majority of Tupac's songs are about growing up amidst racism and violence in the ghetto and conflicts between the East and West Coast hip hop rivalry.
In Langston Hughes's "Children's Rhymes", his poem is deep, talking about how the white people do not understand their struggle for freedom, a common theme in Tupac Shakur's poem "Panther Power".

Children's Rhymes
By what sends
the white kids
I ain't sent:
I know I can't
be President.
What don't bug
them white kids
sure bugs me:
We know everybody
ain't free.

Lies written down
for white folks
ain't for us a-tall:
Liberty And Justice--
Huh!--For All?

Tupac is basically the evolution of Langston Hughes's poem. Hughes's poem talks about how freedom is just an illusion to black people, but yet Hughes does not speak of a solution to find the freedom that black people deserve, the equal freedom that white people are given and that freedom that Mother Liberty promised everyone. The reason that Tupac's "Panther Power" is similar to Hughes's poem is because it relays the same message, but with a solution to find the freedom they were promised. "Don't ever be ashamed of who you are, it's that Panther Power that makes you a star". Tupac's poem is more enthusiastic and offers the inspiration African Americans need to bond together. It is the voice for the white kids to hear that freedom belongs to everyone. Comparing these two poems are very interesting because it compares the two different attitudes that were expressed between Langston Hughes and Tupac. In Hughes's poem, there seems to be no hope for the African American race, just sarcasm and hate towards the white kids. In Tupac's poem, it feels as if there has been a revival period for African Americans to expose their feelings. As if there is momentum pushing blacks to speak up for what they believe is right. Hughes lost the site of freedom, providing no motivation for the blacks, but Tupac revitalized the black spirit. "As real as it seems, the American Dream ain't nothing but a calculated scheme. It is very important to realize that both poems mock the American dream, liberty and justice, because the American dream which was supposed to be a part of every American, was not given to blacks. It is important to view the changes in attitude from the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement/Civil Rights Movement each of them represented. Hughes set the foundation for Tupac black power movements and Tupac set the foundation for unity and pride of African Americans throughout the country.