MAAP | Mapping the African American Past

"They're Our Kids!" by Langston Hughes

An example of how Langston Hughes mixed poetry and political activism, this poem is in honor of Ozie Powell, one of 9 African-American boys arrested together in 1931 after being falsely accused of rape in Scottsboro, Alabama.

Creator: Sunday Worker; Feb. 2, 1936

Source: Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library: Alexander Gumby Collection


Produced by CCNMTL, Chase, Teachers College, and CCI