Langston Hughes' “Harlem” opened doors for African-American art. Throughout history there have been many problems with racial inequality. During the Harlem Renaissance, many African Americans wanted to prove that they were as intelligent, creative, and talented as white Americans. Langston Hughes was one of the people who played an influential role in the Harlem Renaissance; his poem "Harlem" painted a very vivid picture of his life and his vision of the society in which he lived. The Harlem Renaissance was one of the events in history that created a movement for blacks in the United States. While it didn't have as great an effect over time, it was a springboard for African Americans to showcase their creativity. Many peopleOne of the most successful poets in this period was Langston Hughes. "Harlem" was one of Hughes' popular poems in the 1950s. The poem itself is short, but has a lot of meaning behind it. During this time Hughes wanted to make a difference in poetry. He didn't want to be labeled as the young man who only talks to African Americans. He wanted everyone to understand his great works, regardless of color. The poem “Harlem” itself is mostly about the wasted dreams of being African American, but in contrast Langston has been lucky his whole life. Not all African Americans were poor and homeless, but some lived a very pleasant lifestyle. In general, Langston never took part in the fight during this period. His family was considered middle class and never went through hardships as the poem "Harlem" appears to be. Both his mother and father had well-paying jobs that supported him and his siblings. Although he was fortunate as an African American child, he understood what African was. He felt part of the black community, because he was surrounded by mostly blacks his entire life. In his bloodline were Native Americans, White Americans, and African Americans, but after his parents separated he lived with his African American grandmother. He had to face many difficulties growing up, with his broken family and also being a biracial child. He felt like he was too white to be around African Americans, but too black to be around Caucasians. Because of this miscegenation, he wrote the poem “Cross,” which dealt with his multiracial family (69). Overall, he had a very lonely childhood. Regardless of his skin tone, he was still an African American and wanted to express his pain in poetry