Book Review - The Big Sea

The latest book I had to read for the college class I'm taking is Langston Hughes' The Big Sea. The book is an autobiography that tells of Hughes life up to 1930 or so. It is interesting autobiography because it is more than a tale of Hughes' life, it is a window into Harlem's heyday and of Paris in the 1920's when it was the city to live in for writers and other artists. Hughes own life is sad as at an early age, his parents divorced. His mother who at one time left him with his grandmother and then a beloved Uncle and Aunt would move around a lot in search of a better job or a better place to live. It was a hard life for a young kid. It was made worse because Hughes was black. The racism prevalent during that time was terrible. Many jobs were closed to Americans of African descent. The attitudes of some of the southerners Hughes talks about are shockingly sad. At one point in Hughes' life, he teaches english in Mexico. His replacement is a lady from Arkansas who can't get to grips with the fact that her predecessor who is a black man was capable of teaching classes in English  Amazingly too with all the terrible racism, Hughes keeps a positive outlook and shows no sign of bitterness in the book even when he is beaten by a gang of white kids because he went into a neighborhood they felt he didn't belong in. It's an incredible story.

Overall, I found the autobiography excellent. Hughes lived an incredible life. He was a man who was determined that African-Americans should receive the same rights as white Americans. The story tells of how he worked for that end. The college that Hughes went to was a school whose goal was to teach future African-American leaders. Yet, when Hughes went to the college, the school didn't have a single African-American professor, trustee, or member of the board. Hughes did a study that showed how the school was failing instill confidence in the students by its whites only policy. Within 10 years of Hughes study, the college would have African-American professors and trustees. Hughes attitude in the face of incredible racism is also inspiring. He never let the racists get him down. And, as he says at the end of the autobiography, he continued to keep plugging away at his writing and for his fellow African-Americans whom he loved. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone.