On today,

in 1902,                                                                
My favorite poet was born. I have to thank my speech pathologist for introducing me to his work when I was 10. I don't know how she knew, maybe because it worked with her patients before me, but Langston Hughes' poetry- I think poetry itself-relaxed me, made me comfortable, and eventually when I grew up and did poetry readings I forgot that I stuttered. His work will always hold a special place in my heart because I think that poetry discovered me as well, and it was instrumental in helping me to alleviate my stuttering to the point where no one can tell I ever stuttered.
I remembered reading his autobiography. My girlfriend at the time was touched by my reaction. She didn't realize how influential he was to me.   It was 2 huge volumes that took me months to read. I remembered she and I were on the treadmill as I was reading the last few pages about his death, and then the 2 books were completed. It was done.  There would be no more details about his life because I was done with the book. I remember being so distraught I had to get off the treadmill, shower and go home. I had teared up, and I was thinking, why the hell am I crying, he died in 1967!   I think it was a testament to how good the writer was-he slowly drew me in. I was ensconsed in his life. I felt like I was living  during the Harlem Rennaissance. Hearing him and the other "niggerati" (the name used, with deliberate irony, by Wallace Thurman for the group of young African American artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance-the rooming house where he lived, and where that group often met, was similarly christened Niggerati Manor. The group included Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Aaron Douglas who were behind Thurman's journal FIRE!! (which lasted for one issue in 1926), such as Richard Bruce Nugent (the associate editor of the journal), and Jonathan Davis. At a time when homophobia and sexism were common, and when the African American bourgeoisie sought to distance itself from the slavery of the past and seek social equality and racial integration, the Niggerati themselves appeared to be relatively comfortable with their diversity of gender, skin colour, and background. After producing FIRE!!, which failed because of a lack of funding, Thurman persuaded the Niggerati to produce another magazine, Harlem. This, too, lasted only a single issue.). Long story short. Happy Birthday, Langston Hughes, and rest in peace.