Difficulties Expressed in Hughes On the Road and Mother to Son African American citizens living in the United States have lived a difficult life through personal experiences. They fought to gain basic civil rights, a struggle that spanned many centuries (Mabunda 311). Langston Hughes, author of the story "On the Road" and the poem "Mother to Son", often illustrated in his writings the difficulties experienced by the characters: products of African-American life in the United States. Although Hughes and other young African American authors wanted to define and celebrate black art and culture, they were also responsible for changing most Americans' preconceived notions of black life (Mabunda 696). The cultural aspects of Hughes' poems showed life as an African American in the late 1910s to early 1960s. His opinions, like those of many writers of his era, came directly from personal experience, which provided the reader with a sense of communication that illustrated, with art rather than essay, the evils of the racist world. L. Mpho Mabunda proclaims that the problems and sad realities of African Americans "could be experienced through the lives of the characters and in verse, and the message conveyed more subtly and effectively" (696). The overall theme and purpose of “On the Road” and “Mother to Son” centers on illustrating the hardships experienced by most African American citizens in the early part of the century. Both genres graphically describe the lifestyle and environment in which the African American lived. In the 20th century, many of America's black communities have existed in a perpetual state of crisis ("Black American"). According to Kenneth Clark in his addition... center of paper... Robinson. The condition, elevation, emigration, and destiny of the colored people of the United States. New York: Arno P, 1968. “Henry McNeal Turner.” Online. Internet. April 24, 1998.Hughes, Langston. "Mother to son." Bridges: literature across cultures. Eds. Gilbert H. Muller and John A. Williams. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 52.---. "On the road." Bridges: literature across cultures. Eds. Gilbert H. Muller and John A. Williams. New York: McGRaw-Hill, 1994. 845-8.Mabunda, L. Mpho, ed. The African American Almanac. 7th ed. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1997. Miller, R. Baxter, and Evelyn Nettles. "Langston Hughes." Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography: The Age of Maturity, 1929-1941. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1989. 150-71.Quarles, Benjamin. The Negro in the Creation of America. London: Collier-Macmillan Ltd., 1969.