Published in 1922, ”Mother to Son” was one of Langston Hughes’s earliest poems.

Its simple language and powerful message make it both accessible and meaningful
for middle grade students. While it captures the inspiring perseverance of an aging mother, it also hints at the struggles inherent in an unequal society. Ideal for
teaching word choice, theme, and poetic structure, “Mother to Son” also pairs nicely with units on the Harlem Renaissance or African American literature.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was a well-known African American writer. He is celebrated as a powerful writer of the Harlem Renaissance, the artistic movement
that brought about an explosion of African American art, music, and literature in the 1920s and 30s. Like most art produced as part of the Harlem Renaissance,
Hughes’s poems speak to the experience of black people in America. Some poems celebrate African American cultural heritage, while others lament their past
enslavement and continued economic struggles. These socioeconomic struggles were particularly severe in America during the Jim Crow era before the Civil Rights
Movement. “Mother to Son” builds on an understanding of the financial struggles facing many black families in the early 1900s. Written nearly 100 years ago, its
message still resonates today.