WIST Quotations

Hughes, Langston -- “Alabama Earth” (1928)

Dave — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 15:10:49 +0000

While over Alabama earth
These words are gently spoken
Serve — and hate will die unborn
Love — and chains are broken.

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright
“Alabama Earth” (1928)

At Booker T. Washington's grave.

Hughes, Langston -- “Beaumont to Detroit: 1943”

Dave — Thu, 14 May 2015 13:10:54 +0000

Looky here, America
What you done done —
Let things drift
Until the riots come.

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright
“Beaumont to Detroit: 1943”
(Source)

Hughes, Langston -- “Justice” (1923)

Dave — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 13:21:07 +0000

That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright
“Justice” (1923)

Hughes, Langston -- “The Black Man Speaks,” Jim Crow’s Last Stand (1943)

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:49:20 +0000

I swear to the Lord
I still can’t see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright
“The Black Man Speaks,” Jim Crow’s Last Stand (1943)
(Source)

Hughes, Langston -- Story (1943), “Sometimes I Wonder” [Narrator], The Best of Simple (1961)

Dave — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 01:06:15 +0000

Sometimes, even if a woman no longer wants you in her arms, she wants you in her heart.

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright
Story (1943), “Sometimes I Wonder” [Narrator], The Best of Simple (1961)
(Source)