Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

Today in History June 3

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

1098		Christian Crusaders of the First Crusade seize Antioch, Turkey.
1539		Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain.
1861		Union troops defeat Confederate forces at Philippi, in western Virginia
1864		Some 7,000 Union troops are killed within 30 minutes during the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia.
1888		The classic baseball poem “Casey at the Bat,” written by Ernest L. Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner.
1918		The Finnish Parliament ratifies a treaty with Germany.
1923		In Italy, dictator Benito Mussolini grants women the right to vote.
1928		Manchurian warlord Chian Tso-Lin dies as a result of a bomb blast set off by the Japanese.
1938		The German Third Reich votes to confiscate so-called “degenerate art.”
1940		The German Luftwaffe hits Paris with 1,100 bombs.
1942		Japanese carrier-based planes strafe Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands as a diversion of the attack on Midway Island.
1952		A rebellion by North Korean prisoners in the Koje prison camp in South Korea is put down by American troops.
1965		Astronaut Edward White becomes the first American to walk in space when he exits the Gemini 4 space capsule.
1969		74 American sailors died when the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans was cut in two by an Australian aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
1974		Charles Colson, an aide to President Richard Nixon, pleads guilty to obstruction of justice.
1989		The Chinese government begins its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Hundreds are killed and thousands are arrested.
Born on June 3
1726		James Hutton, Scottish scientist, pioneer in the field of geology.
1804		Richard Cobden, English economist and politician.
1808		Jefferson Davis, President of Confederate States of America.
1904		Charles R. Drew, American physician, researcher of blood plasma.
1906		Josephine Baker, dancer and singer.
1922		Alain Resnais, French film director.
1926		Allen Ginsberg, American poet (Howl).
1936		Larry McMurtry, novelist (The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment).

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.OIqWuMus.dpuf

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Borough Market

Borough Market

Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in South London. It is a successor to a 13th century market that adjoined the end of London Bridge. People come to trade at the current market from all different parts of the UK, and it has become a fashionable place to buy food. Large portions of the market are to be demolished under what project? More… Discuss

today’s image: African-American Poet Phillis Wheatley

African-American Poet Phillis Wheatley

Only a child of about eight when she was kidnapped and brought to America as a slave, Phillis Wheatley was given the name of her Boston master, tailor John Wheatley. With his wife Susanna, John Wheatley treated the young girl kindly, providing an education that included the classical languages and literature. Phillis Wheatley’s poetry was published for the first time in 1767. She traveled to England in 1773, where her book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was hailed as the first published by an African American. Although she received her freedom soon after, Wheatley’s last years saw only misery and she died in 1784. Her work, lost and forgotten until the publication of a new edition in 1834, was used by abolitionists to prove that blacks were not intellectually inferior to whites.

Image: Library of Congress

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.8PS8Ib1a.dpuf

*Breathing Techniques* (Yoga, Meditation, Relaxation, Stress, Cancer, Blood Pressure) Kapalbhati

Acharya Shree Yogeesh

 

Uploaded on Jun 25, 2010/221,088 views

Breathing Technique that is easy, powerful and brings immediate results. Popular pranayama breathing technique and exercise.

Free Teachings: http://acharyashreeyogeesh.com
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Acharya Shree Yogeesh conducts his first online video tutorial which covers a breathing technique called kapalbhati. He describes kapalbhati’s history, purpose, and benefits of this ancient yogic breathing technique, and teaches you how to do it.

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= About Acharya Shree Yogeesh =
Acharya Shree Yogeesh is a living enlightened master of this era and founder of the Siddhayatan Tirth and Spiritual Retreat, a unique 200+ acre spiritual pilgrimage site and meditation park in North America providing the perfect atmosphere for spiritual learning, community, and soul awakening to help truth seekers advance spiritually. Acharya Shree Yogeesh is also the founder of the Yogeesh Ashram near Los Angeles, California, Yogeesh Ashram International in New Delhi, India, and the Acharya Yogeesh Primary & Higher Secondary School in Haryana, India.

As an inspiring revolutionary spiritual leader and in-demand speaker worldwide, for over forty years Acharya Shree Yogeesh has dedicated his life to helping guide hundreds of thousands of people on their spiritual journey of self-improvement and self-realization.

It is Acharya Shree Yogeesh’s mission to spread the message of nonviolence, vegetarianism, oneness, and total transformation.

= Connect with Acharya Shree Yogeesh =
Teachings: http://acharyashreeyogeesh.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/acharyashreeyogeesh
Spiritual Retreats: http://siddhayatan.org

= Connect with Sadhvi Siddhali Shree =
Free Book: http://siddhalishree.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/siddhalishree

Other resources:
http://awakenchakras.com (Awaken Chakras, Activate Kundalini)
http://siddhalishree.com (Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, Spiritual Blog)
http://siddhayatan.org (Siddhayatan Spiritual Retreat and Ashram)
http://spiritualchildrenscamp.com (Spiritual Children’s Camp)

today’s Image: The Great Migration – Library of Congress

The Great Migration

From 1910 to 1970, more than 6 million southern blacks left their rural homes in search of an urban ‘Promised Land’ in the north. The largest migration in American history was caused by the ‘push’ of hardships prevalent in the South–such as segregation, lynching and the economic hopelessness of the sharecropping system–and the ‘pull’ of opportunity in the North. Plentiful industrial jobs, although sometimes menial, often offered wages three times higher than did jobs in the South. Glowing reports from friends and family already in the North inspired increased migration. While racism, housing shortages and crime often greeted the new arrivals, they also found organizations such as the National Urban League and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dedicated to improving the lives of black Americans.

Library of Congress

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.WpJXk4hf.dpuf

Peter, Paul, and Mary – This Land is Your Land

Ted Fischer

Published on Jul 4, 2012

From their 2nd Album “Moving”, released in 1963. Written by Woody Guthrie.

• Music

  • “This Land Is Your Land (Remastered LP Version)” by Peter, Paul and Mary (Google Play • iTunes • AmazonMP3)

• Artist

  • Peter, Paul and Mary

Woody Guthrie- This Land Is Your Land

rutaloot

Uploaded on Nov 29, 2008/2,080,230 views

the great Woody Guthrie

• Music

  • “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie & Jack Elliott (eMusic)

• Artist

  • Woody Guthrie

health: Study Says Motion Sickness Is in the Genes

Study Says Motion Sickness Is in the Genes

If you feel an unpleasant queasiness while traveling in a car or boat, it could be genetic, according to a recent study by personal genomics company 23andMe. Using genetic data from more than 80,000 of its customers, 23andMe was able to link motion sickness to 35 genetic factors—many of which are involved in the nervous system, balance, and eye and ear development. However, having these gene variants does not guarantee that one will experience motion sickness. Research also showed that those who suffer from motion sickness are more likely to develop vertigo and migraines. More… Discuss

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this day in the yesteryear: Jackie Robinson Retires (1957)

Jackie Robinson Retires (1957)

Robinson, a vocal member of the Civil Rights movement, was the first African-American baseball player in the modern major leagues and the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1949, he led the National League in both stolen bases and batting average and was named its most valuable player. In recognition of his accomplishments both on and off the field, Major League Baseball retired Robinson’s number in 1997. How many times did he “steal home” during his career? More… Discuss

“Dignify and glorify common labor. … It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.” Booker T. Washington

Dignify and glorify common labor. … It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Discuss

haiku – Evidence of passage of time, poetic though by George-B (©The Smudge and Other Poems Page)

Haiku – vidence of passage of time,
(poetic though by George-B)

One after another,

like footsteps on wet beaches,

time levels passage.

©The Smudge and Other Poems  Page

Waves Erasing Footprints on a beach

quotation: Human nature is above all things lazy. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

Human nature is above all things lazy.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Discuss

Encyclopaedia Britannica: “We’ve Done Your Homework for You!”

We’ve Done Your Homework for You!

Encyclopaedia Britannica

For more information, visit http://corporate.britannica.com/for-j… or contact tpappas@eb.com.

 

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this pressed: Democracy Now: Hands up, Don’t choke!

Thursday, December 4, 2014 Previous | Next

Hands Up, Don’t Choke

3,342

SHARED

By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan

Another police killing of an unarmed man of color. Another grand jury deciding not to indict: Not for murder. Not for manslaughter. Not for assault. Not even for reckless endangerment. We live in a land of impunity. At least, for those in power.

This past summer, after covering the protests in Ferguson, Mo., I flew back to New York City and went straight to Staten Island to cover the march protesting the police killing of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African-American father of six. This story was strikingly similar to the police killing in Ferguson, where Officer Darren Wilson gunned down unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown. Both cases involved white police officers using deadly force. Both of the victims were unarmed African-Americans. In both cases, local prosecutors, with close ties to their local police departments, were allowed to control the grand jury. There were some differences between the cases. Most notably, Eric Garner’s killing was captured on video.

If you look at the video closely, just as NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo puts him in an illegal chokehold, you see Eric Garner put his hands up, the international signal of surrender. He is then taken down by a gang of police officers. You hear him repeatedly say, “I can’t breathe!” He says it a total of 11 times before he goes limp and dies.

Where did this video come from? A young man named Ramsey Orta was standing near Garner on that July 17 afternoon when the police moved in. Orta flipped open his cellphone and videoed the whole thing. Pantaleo was caught red-handed. The evidence was there for everyone to see. Well, the grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo. Only two people were arrested in the wake of Garner’s death: Ramsey Orta, who shot the video, and his wife, Chrissie Ortiz. Chrissie told a local television station that since Ramsey was identified as the videographer, they had been subjected to police harassment. Ramsey was arrested the day after the city medical examiner declared Garner’s death a homicide. Chrissie was later arrested as well. I saw them at the Staten Island march that Saturday, standing near where Garner died. I asked them for comment, but they were afraid. They huddled on the same stoop that Ramsey was on when he filmed Garner’s death.

At that march on Staten Island on Aug. 23, while Ramsey and Chrissie chose not to speak, many did. “The Staten Island [district attorney] should not be prosecuting this case,” Constance Malcolm told me. “We need the feds to come in and take this case right now. We need accountability.”

Click here to read the full column posted at Truthdig.

Click here to listen to Amy Goodman’s podcast. Subscribe to her weekly podcast on SoundCloud and Stitcher Radio.

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this pressed: Michael Brown’s stepfather under investigation for allegedly trying to incite riot in Ferguson|— NBC News (@NBCNews)

Michael Brown’s stepfather under investigation for allegedly trying to incite riot in Ferguson http://t.co/A8mWuFSCV1 pic.twitter.com/2ZB3bYGYbo

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 2, 2014

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word: edacious

edacious 

Definition:	(adjective) Characterized by voracity; devouring.
Synonyms:	ravenous, voracious, wolfish, esurient, rapacious, ravening
Usage:	The edacious vultures soon devoured the animal’s remains. Discuss.

A Thanksgiving Present for all my friends #euzicasa: Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From The New World” / Karajan · Vienna Philharmonic

Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From The New World” / Karajan · Vienna Philarmonic

  Canal de Josep489

Uploaded on Sep 21, 2011

Great presentation of the Great Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan, playing the 9th Symphony of Antonin Dvorak “From the new world”.

Gran presentación de la Filarmónica de Viena conducida por Herbert von Karajan, interpretando la novena sinfonía de Antonin Dvorak “Sinfonía del Nuevo Mundo”.

(C) Telemonde 1992, UMG and all their respective owners. No commercial use of this material.

(0:37) 1st mvt (Adagio, Allegro Molto)
(10:42) 2nd mvt (Largo)
(23:30) 3rd mvt (Scherzo, Molto Vivace)
(32:07) 4rth mvt (Allegro con fuoco)

Antonín Dvořák Symphony No 8 [No 4] G major Karajan Wiener Philarmoniker: great compositions/performances

Antonín Dvořák Symphony No 8 [No 4] G major Karajan Wiener Philarmoniker

   La Casa di Davide

Published on Feb 21, 2014

Antonín Dvořák Symphony No 8 (ex No 4) in G major
Herbert von Karajan conducts Wiener Philarmoniker

Movements:

1.  Allegro con brio (G major)
2. Adagio (C minor) 9:50
3. Allegretto grazioso — Molto vivace (G minor) 21:20
4. Allegro ma non troppo (G major) 27:06

This pressed: L’affaire #Ferguson, miroir de la société américaine ? #DébatF24 — Débat FRANCE 24 (@DebatF24)

 

 

 

L’affaire #Ferguson, miroir de la société américaine ? #DébatF24 http://t.co/XMujIKGtyP @EllenKountz @crfredrickson pic.twitter.com/E8PamuNbsQ

— Débat FRANCE 24 (@DebatF24) November 26, 2014

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this pressed: For two kids and two parents, one-on-one time a must – CSMonitor.com

Bureau of Land Management/AP/FILE
View Caption

A mom stays at home with her older son while her husband takes their younger son on a trip. She learns that time alone with her older son is invaluable in building communication, trust, and appreciation for him as an individual.

By Eliana Osborn, Correspondent November 19, 2014

via For two kids and two parents, one-on-one time a must – CSMonitor.com.

today’s holiday: Black Poetry Day

Black Poetry Day

To honor the contributions African Americans have made to American life and culture, Stanley A. Ransom, of Long Island, New York, proposed Black Poetry Day in 1970. October 17 is the birthdate of Jupiter Hammon, the first African-American poet to publish his own verse. Although it is celebrated all over the state of New York, it has yet to be formally proclaimed a state holiday. Oregon has declared October 17 Black Poetry Day, and schools elsewhere take advantage of the opportunity to encourage African-American students to express their thoughts and feelings through poetry. More… Discuss

Maafa Commemoration

The Maafa Commemoration is an annual remembrance of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the experience of Middle Passage. The commemoration, held at the St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York, centers around a dramatic presentation put on by the church’s drama ministry. “The Maafa Suite … A Healing Journey” depicts the history of African Americans, from Africa to the Jim Crow South. Other events during the week include lectures, worship services, Maafa museum tours, and special activities for senior citizens and young people. More…

today’s birthday: Arthur Ashe (1943)

Arthur Ashe (1943)

Ashe rose from his hometown’s public courts to become the first African-American male to reach prominence in tennis. Noted for his grace, hard-hit topspin, and outstanding backhand, Ashe won three Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon. He helped to form the Association of Tennis Professionals and worked to expose the injustices of apartheid in South Africa. Infected with HIV through a blood transfusion, he also worked to raise awareness of AIDS. Why was Ashe arrested in 1985 and 1992? More… Discuss

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today’s holiday: Juneteenth

Juneteenth

Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it wasn’t until two years later that the word reached the slaves in Texas. General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865 with the intention of forcing slave owners to release their slaves, and the day has been celebrated since that time in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and other parts of the Deep South under the nickname “Juneteenth.” Observed primarily in African-American communities, Juneteenth festivities usually include parades, picnics, and baseball games. More… Discuss

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today’s holiday…also: Black Music Month (today: DUKE ELLINGTON & His Orchestra Memories Of Duke)

Black Music Month

Black Music Month is observed in June each year in the United States. Created by music executives Kenny Gable and Ed Wright as a way to celebrate and promote black music, the special designation has been proclaimed each year since 1979 by the president. At the White House in Washington, D.C., a concert and reception is held each year that features various genres of African-American music, including R&B, jazz, blues, and hip hop. Throughout the country, public and private organizations host numerous educational programs and cultural festivals recognizing the achievements of black musicians. More… Discuss

01.Satin Doll 02.Black & Tan Fantasy 03.Creole Love Call 04.The Mooche 05.Happy Go Lucky Local 06.Mexican Suite 07.Don’t Mean A Thing 08.I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good 09.Thing’s Ain’t What They Used To Be 10.Mood Indigo 11.Take The A-Train 12.Sophistic 12.Sophisticated Lady 13.Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
DUKE ELLINGTON & His Orchestra
Memories Of Duke
130119

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today’s birthday: Gwendolyn Brooks (1917)

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917)

Brooks was an award-winning poet whose compositions, written in a variety of forms, deal with the experience of being black and often of being female in America. Her 1949 book of poetry, Annie Allen, received a Pulitzer Prize, the first ever awarded to an African American. In 1994, she was named the National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecturer, one of the highest honors in the American literary world. How old was Brooks when her first poem was published? More… Discuss

TODAY’S HOLIDAY: SPIRITUAL BAPTIST LIBERATION DAY

Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day

This national holiday, instituted in 1996, honors an African-American religious sect once outlawed in Trinidad and Tobago. The Spiritual Baptists originally came to the islands as former American slaves. Their style of worship combines African and Baptist beliefs and practices, and services include bell ringing and shouting. In 1917, the government forbade the group from practicing their religion; this law was overturned in 1951. Their national holiday honors the Spiritual Baptists’ long struggle against religious persecution. It is observed with speeches and religious services. More… Discuss

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: GARRETT AUGUSTUS MORGAN, SR. (1877)

Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. (1877)

Born into poverty and having had little formal education, Morgan nevertheless became a successful inventor and entrepreneur. In 1914, he patented his “breathing device,” a hood that allows one to breathe safely in the presence of smoke, gas, and other pollutants. He worked hard to market it, especially to fire departments, and often demonstrated its reliability, most famously using it to rescue several men from an Ohio tunnel accident in 1916. What did he invent after he had gone nearly blind? More… Discuss

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TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: RALPH WALDO ELLISON (1914)

Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914)

Ellison moved to New York City in 1936 to study art but took up writing after meeting authors Langston Hughes and Richard Wright. Ellison spent seven years writing what would be his only completed novel, Invisible Man, about a nameless black man struggling to live in a hostile society. The work brought Ellison eminence as a writer and remains one of the central texts of the African-American experience. What is the title of his second, uncompleted novel, published posthumously in 1999? More… Discuss

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Marian Anderson – “Deep River” (Spiritual)

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TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: NINA SIMONE (1933)

Nina Simone (1933)

After winning acclaim in 1959 with her recording of George Gershwin’s “I Loves You, Porgy,” American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone toured the US and Europe. She soon put her talents and newfound fame to work for the civil rights movement, writing and performing protest songs such as “Mississippi Goddam” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.” Dissatisfied with the treatment of African Americans in the US, the “High Priestess of Soul” expatriated herself in the 1970s. Where did she go?More… Discuss

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QUOTATION: Booker T. Washington

One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Discuss

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Today’s Birthday: SADIE TANNER MOSSELL ALEXANDER (1898)

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898)

Alexander came from a family of academic achievers—her father and uncle both graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, studying law and medicine respectively. Alexander also earned a degree from the school—becoming one of the first African-American women with a PhD in the US—and moved on to Penn’s law school, where she was the first African-American woman graduate. She also served as the first national president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In which subject was Alexander’s PhD? More… Discuss

 

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: MADAM C.J. WALKER (1867)

Madam C.J. Walker (1867)

Thought to be America’s first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7, working at 10, married at 14, and a widow with an infant at 20. She worked as a domestic and laundress and in her scant spare time developed a treatment system to stop hair loss in African-American women and create smooth, shiny coiffures. She soon expanded her product line, and by 1917, her cosmetics empire was the largest black-owned business in the US. What did she do with her riches? More… Discuss

 

Quotation: Booker T. Washington – about nations and slavery

I pity from the bottom of my heart any nation or body of people that is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Discuss

 

Today’s Birthday: BENJAMIN BANNEKER (1731)

Benjamin Banneker (1731)

Banneker was a free African American who was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics. In 1761, he drew attention by building a wooden clock that kept precise time for some 50 years. He accurately predicted a solar eclipse in 1789 and began publishing annually thePennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris, sending an early copy to Thomas Jefferson to counter the belief that African Americans were intellectually inferior. How did Jefferson respond? More… Discuss

 

I, Too, Sing America 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.

 

Today’s Birthday: FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER (1825)

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825)

Born free in Baltimore, Maryland—where slavery was still in place—Harper was raised by an abolitionist uncle and published her first volume of poetry when she 20 years old. In 1854, she gave her first anti-slavery lecture. Her second volume, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, made her the best known African-American poet of the era. Her short story, “The Two Offers,” was probably the first such published work by any African American. How old was she when she published her first novel? More… Discuss

 

A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that “Harlem was in vogue”^{[cite this quote]}.

Ancestry and childhood

Both of Hughes’ paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African-American, his maternal great-grandfather was white and of Scottish descent. A paternal great-grandfather was of European Jewish descent.^[1] Hughes’s maternal grandmother Mary Patterson was of African-American, French, English and Native American descent. One of the first women to attend Oberlin College, she first married Lewis Sheridan Leary, also of mixed race. Lewis Sheridan Leary subsequently joined John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 and died from his wounds.^[1]

In 1869 the widow Mary Patterson Leary married again, into the elite, politically active Langston family. Her second husband was Charles Henry Langston, of African American, Native American, and Euro-American ancestry.^[2][3] He and his younger brother John Mercer Langston worked for the abolitionist cause and helped lead the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society ^[4] in 1858. Charles Langston later moved to Kansas, where he was active as an educator and activist for voting and rights for African Americans.^[2] Charles and Mary’s daughter Caroline was the mother of Langston Hughes.^[5]

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, the second child of school teacher Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes (1871–1934).^[6] Langston Hughes grew up in a series of Midwestern small towns.

Hughes’s father left his family and later divorced Carrie, going to Cuba, and then Mexico, seeking to escape the enduring racism in the United States.^[7] After the separation of his parents, while his mother travelled seeking employment, young Langston Hughes was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother, Mary Patterson Langston, in Lawrence, Kansas. Through the black American oral tradition and drawing from the activist experiences of her generation, Mary Langston instilled in the young Langston Hughes a lasting sense of racial pride.^[8][9][10] He spent most of his childhood in Lawrence, Kansas. After the death of his grandmother, he went to live with family friends, James and Mary Reed, for two years. Because of the unstable early life, his childhood was not an entirely happy one, but it strongly influenced the poet he would become. Later, Hughes lived again with his mother Carrie in Lincoln, Illinois. She had remarried when he was still an adolescent, and eventually they lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended high school. The Hughes’ home in Cleveland was sold in foreclosure in 1918; the 2.5-story, wood-frame house on the city’s east side was sold at a sheriff’s auction in February for $16,667.

While in grammar school in Lincoln, Hughes was elected class poet. Hughes stated that in retrospect he thought it was because of the stereotype that African Americans have rhythm.^[11] “I was a victim of a stereotype. There were only two of us Negro kids in the whole class and our English teacher was always stressing the importance of rhythm in poetry. Well, everyone knows, except us, that all Negroes have rhythm, so they elected me as class poet.”^[12] During high school in Cleveland, Ohio, he wrote for the school newspaper, edited the yearbook, and began to write his first short stories, poetry, and dramatic plays. His first piece of jazz poetry, “When Sue Wears Red”, was written while he was in high school. It was during this time that he discovered his love of books. From this early period in his life, Hughes would cite as influences on his poetry the American poets Paul Laurence Dunbar and Carl Sandburg.
Find out more about Langston Hughes at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes

Related articles

• Langston Hughes – LGBT History Month (nwaequality.org)
• Langston Hughes revealed a utopian dream (atung.net)
• Langston Hughes celebrations around Seattle (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Morning Writing Exercise – Creative Larceny – Write a Cento (thenightlypoem.com)
  

My Take (explaining the picture):

If the background seem to you dark blue, it is because around a deffered dream there is the feeling of being deep under water, with no hope of ever be breathing again.
If the lettering appears to you unclear, foggy, is because a dream, that cannot be touched, keeps coming back in memory, sticks around, feels like it wets your very bones, while at the same time looses some of its clarity. The core, the essential, is still there though, ready to burst into existence.