I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.
Langston HughesRead
It is the duty of the younger Negro artist . . . to change through the force of his art that old whispering "I want to be white," hidden in the aspirations of his people, to "Why should I want to be white? I am a Negro - and beautiful!"
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the responsibility of artists to redefine identity and self-worth within their communities.
Langston Hughes articulates the essential duty of young Black artists to challenge and transform the internalized desire for whiteness among their peers into a celebration of Black identity and beauty. This statement underscores the power of art as a means of social change and self-acceptance, urging artists to use their creative voices to inspire pride and a redefinition of cultural narratives.
In practice
During a panel talk about the role of art in activism, one might use this quote to underscore the importance of representation.
I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.
My writing has been largely concerned with the depicting of Negro life in America.
I tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course. Tomorrow is another day. I do not need my freedom when I'm dead. I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.
An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.
The calm, Cool face of the river, Asked me for a kiss
The only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you'll finish it.
The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
The most extraordinary thing about writing is that when you've struck the right vein, tiredness goes. It must be an effort, thinking wrong.
I will begin with what in my opinion is your lack of restraint. You are like a spectator in a theatre who expresses his enthusiasm so unrestrainedly that he prevents himself and others from hearing. That lack of restraint is particularly noticeable in the descriptions of nature with which you interrupt dialogues; when one reads them, these descriptions, one wishes they were more compact, shorter, say two or three lines.
Punk is not dead. Punk will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail - Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
All the arts are based on the presence of man, only photography derives an advantage from his absence. Photography affects us like a phenomenon in nature, like a flower or a snowflake whose vegetable or earthly origins are an inseparable part of their beauty.
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