The poem I am reviewing is I, Too Am America by Langston Hughes. I remember the first time I was introduced to this poem. I was about twelve years old, in the sixth grade, at Davis Elementary School in Greenwood, Mississippi. We were asked to research, memorize, and perform a poem for the Black History Program. This was the piece I decided to perform.
I, Too
By Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
This poem resonates with me soul-y because of the content. I am a black male in the United States of America. It is pretty difficult living being a black male in this day and age. His first line, “I too, sing America,” reminds me of the Star Spangled Banner. (I am pretty sure this is not what he meant, but it is where my mind went.) There have been a lot of white people to sing the Start Spangled Banner, but there have been even more black people to sing it. In reality, the black people who sung it, have gone down in history for being the best to ever do it. The two that instantly come to mind are Whitney Houston and Marvin Gaye. According to the world, Whitney sang it perfectly and Marvin’s rendition was very creative.
The next part, “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.” The fact that he had to state the obvious, which was that he’s the “darker brother”, says a lot. It is obvious. Him saying it leads to him basically saying that having darker brothers around is embarrassing, which is why the darker brothers are sent to the kitchen to eat. I love how he turns into something positive though. Laughter is great for the soul. Good southern cooking is also great for growing healthy and strong, mentally and physically.
The next stanza says, “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table, when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then.” This simply gives me hope that with social work, determination, consistence, and time, some people won’t even have the opportunity to tell us (the darker brothers) where we can and cannot sit or eat.
“Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed – I, too, am America.”
This does nothing but make my melanin smile. They’ll see that the darker brother is also the talented and intelligent brother. By that point, they’ll realize that they have missed out on a lot of experience.
The one thing that I appreciate the most is that his words have stood the test of time. They were relevant in his time period, and they still are in 2019.
