Featured poem: I, Too by Langston Hughes

I hope you enjoy this week’s Featured Poem. I chose it because of  the clear, uplifting  feelings of hope and inner strength from the narrator, despite the poem being set in times of racial segregation in America. I have such admiration for the narrator and his self-assurance, and think we can all look up to characters like him when we are in need of a confidence boost and optimism in our daily lives.

Do you have any favourite characters in literature which you look up to? Let us know in the comments below. Enjoy!

I, Too

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
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.

by Langston Hughes