Bop

Langston Hughes is a famous African-American poet and is considered to be a central member of the Harlem Renaissance. A movement in the 1920’s and ‘30’s that saw a massive rise in African American arts, all of which centered around Harlem, New York. The essay, Bop, was posted in the Chicago Defender in 1949, the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The Chicago Defender was directed towards an African American audience and, at the time, was the most important of the colored press. This essay is written for African Americans, and particularly those who are slow to action when it comes to their rights.

Hughes writes his essay in the narrative form, recalling a conversation between himself and a presumably younger neighbor named Simple. Simple sings a song that reminds Hughes of skat but Simple denies this. He then explains that Be-Bop is colored people’s music, and it cannot be imitated well by white people. Be-Bop is the sound of the brutality inflicted onto the black community by police. Through this narrative, Hughes highlights two things: first, the importance and uniqueness of African American culture, and second, he is calling his readers to action over the poor treatment of African Americans. He makes his first point through his unique use of onomatopoeia and gibberish. The words, which at first seem nonsensical, are made deeply meaningful because of the history of the black community. Finally, his call to action is culminated in the last two lines of the story. “‘Your explanation depresses me,’ I said. “Your nonsense depresses me,’ said Simple.” (Hughes 3). Through this dialogue Hughes states the way African Americans are treated is depressing, but then goes on to explain that even more depressing than that is the fact that there are those African Americans who think Be-Bop is just nonsense, and therefore are ignorant to their own suffering and not acting to help themselves.

This image shows an example of bebop music typical to the setting of the essay