Langston Hughes, I, Too (1925)

Text

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Critical Edition

Langston Hughes. "I, Too [1925]." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Vol. D. Fifth Edition. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. 1525.