Langston Hughes is a famous poet of the 1900s. "[He] is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance" ("Biography"). Langston's life experiences with discrimination against blacks, his own ethnicity, poverty, and the dream of peace contributed to countless poems. Hughes was born in a time when black individuals did not have the same rights as whites. This fight against discrimination contributed to many of Hughes' poems such as “Democracy” in which he talks about wanting freedom just like white people have it (“Democracy” 20-21). He states that democracy won't come soon enough and he can't keep waiting until he's dead ("Democracy" 1-14). Hughes strongly dreams of having the same rights and freedom as everyone else. Hughes struggled with the fact that his parents were both mixed race. Both his mother and father were half white and half black ("Langston"). This made Hughes mixed race just like his mother and father, but he struggled to find himself because he wasn't completely black or white. Langston Hughes did not have a good relationship with his father ("Biography"). Hughes' father hated blacks even though he was mixed race and was himself partially black. He hated his own people. He considered his black half shameful and wanted to be seen as completely white. “Hughes' mother came from a distinguished family of respected black educators and activists” (“Langston”). He was not ashamed of his ethnicity for being a person of color. He left Hughes with his maternal grandmother so he could find work. His grandmother was his primary caretaker from then on, and while raising him she spoke to and instilled in Hughes a lifelong sense of racial pride ("Biography"). ..And joy, like a pearl, / satisfies the needs of all humanity - / Of this dream, my world! ("I dream of a world" 13-16). Hughes says everyone will be happier in his dream world. Works Cited “Langston Hughes: Childhood.” Langston Hughes. Shmoop University, 2014. Web. 1 April 2014 .“Langston Hughes Biography” PoemHunter.com. N/A, April 1, 2014. Web. April 1, 2014.Hughes, Langston. "Democracy." PoemHunter.com. PoemHunter.Com and Web. April 1, 2014 .Hughes, Langston. "Through." PoemHunter.com. PoemHunter.Com and Web. April 1, 2014 .Hughes, Langston. "Brass spittoons." PoemHunter.com. PoemHunter.Com and Web. April 1. 2014 .