Poem vs Chapter 17

The reading in Black Boy and the poem by Langston Hughes are similar in that they are trying to take a stand and rise up against something they believe is unjust. They both discuss how the white world suppresses the blacks to the point where they become united. In Wright’s case even though everyone is different in the communist party, they realize that they have a common bond with one another and have the power to stand up against the higher powers that have kept them in this confined room. Wright stated that, “They would have never allowed millions of perplexed and defeated people to sit together for long hours and talk, for out of their talk was rising a new realization in life. And once this new conception of themselves had formed, no power on earth could alter it.” Wright is saying that the people in the communist party were able to put aside their differences and create one common purpose. Langston Hughes’ poem is more individualized than in the group that Wright was talking about, but he also is trying to take a stand against a group of people so that one day he may “eat at the kitchen” and not be ashamed of his skin color being different.