“I, Too” by Langston Hughes.
poetryfoundation.org/poems/47558/i-too
I, Too
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Copyright Credit: Langston Hughes, “I, Too” from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.
Source: The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (University of Missouri Press (BkMk Press), 2002)
Langston Hughes reading his poem, “I, Too” (1 min).
youtube.com/watch?v=oiCWngPt-L4.
Jack Delano, photographer, “Mr. Langston Hughes, Negro Poet and Playwright, Chicago, Illinois,” April 1942, photograph. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USW3-001542-D. loc.gov/pictures/item/2017830101/