This image of Langston Hughes (1902 to 1967) was taken by Gordon Parks in 1943 and copied from the Library of Congress.
Langston Hughes was one of the major figures of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer and newspaper columnist.
This is one of his most famous poems (from the Poetry Foundation Web site). It was first published in 1951:
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?