Later, he declared his radicalism an error of his youth. However, in the months following the hearings, William Du Bois criticised Hughes for failing to defend the victimization of Paul Robeson. Hughes refused to name the names of other radicals and denied he had ever been a member of the American Communist Party. Langston Hughes giving evidence before the House of Un-American Activities (26th March, 1953)Ī victim of McCarthyism, in March, 1953 Hughes was forced to appear before the House of Un-American Activities. Winston, and Gil Green under the Alien Registration Act. Thompson, Gus Hall, Benjamin Davis, Henry M. Foster, Benjamin Davis, John Gates, Robert G. In 1948 he publicly endorsed Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace for president and the following year he condemned the prosecution of Eugene Dennis, William Z.

He had several friends in the American Communist Party but this came to an end with the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Hughes visited the Soviet Union and on his return published A Negro Looks at Soviet Central Asia (1934), where he praised the country's treatment of racial minorities. Hughes also wrote for the Marxist journal, the New Masses and in 1937 reported on the Spanish Civil War. Much of his work dealt with the effects of the Depression on the American people. Hughes published a novel, Not Without Laughter (1930), a collection of short-stories, The Ways of White Folks (1934) and a play, The Mulatto (1935). The work was well-received and helped him win a scholarship to Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. He also had a essay, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, published in The Nation. Later he travelled through Italy, Holland, Spain and France before returning to New York City where he published two volumes of poetry, The Weary Blues (1926) and Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927). He attended Columbia University (1921-22) before working as a steward on a ship bound for Africa.

In 1921 his poem, Speaks of Rivers, was published in Crisis, the journal of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). Hughes became interested in poetry and was especially influenced by the work of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman. His grandmother taught him about Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth and at an early age he was introduced to the writings of William Du Bois. His father deserted the family and Hughes was mainly brought up by his grandmother, whose husband had been killed during the insurrection at Harper's Ferry. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on 1st February, 1902.

I wonder as i wander hughes