Hughes, Langston
...rs old. At that time, I moved to Lincoln Illinois to live with my mother and stepfather, Homer Clark.(3) We moved many times, which explains why I later claimed sleeping in “Ten Thousand Beds”, in an essay that I had written.(3) I then moved to Cleveland, Ohio where I learned the blues and spirituals. I often weaved these elements into my poetry. In Ohio I also attended high school, where I was designated “class poet” and is also where published my first short stories. I became friends with some white classmates, while others racially insulted me because I am African American.(3) These agonies and sufferings were often associated with all the injustice suffered by the African American race, and became main aspects to many of my writings.(4) In 1920 I graduated from Central High School. I then moved to Mexico to li...