Google Doodle celebrates poet Langston Hughes today on his 113th Birthday (February 1) with a riff on his poem, “I Dream a World.” The animation was created by Katy Wu. (More on Katy Wu here and her advice for budding digital artists)
I dreamed with Langston turning the pages of his final book BLACK MAGIC (co-authored with Milton Meltzer), a pictorial anthology of African Americans singers, dramatists, actors, musicians, dancers — the trailblazers who were paving the road for the generations by living their dreams. Was this the hope of Langston Hughes? Was the dream deffered the warning?
I DREAM A WORLD
by Langston HughesI dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!