The more I learn about Gil Scott-Heron, the more I admire him. I have long been familiar with his work as a poet, pianist, composer, spoken word artist, and the youthful voice of Black protest in the 20th century. It was not until 2017, however, that I discovered how much he had in common with another great writer, Langston Hughes.
Born nearly five decades apart, both Hughes (1902-1967) and Scott-Heron (1949-2011) gained a large readership/listening audience while they were students at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University. In their heyday, each man’s work was seen as part of a larger cultural movement; the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s for Hughes, and the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s for Scott-Heron.
Both men also made liberal use of blues traditions in their work. The Weary Blues (1926), for example, was Hughes’ first published volume of poetry. In The Life of Langston Hughes, biographer Arnold Rampersad even described Hughes as the “little brown poet of the blues.”
For his part, Scott-Heron was a self-described “bluesologist,” and, according to Marcus Baram, author of Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man, “He actually coveted any comparison with Hughes, when critics made the reference in their reviews.” This blog post is not a review, but I am making the reference. Hughes and Scott-Heron remind me of each other, in more ways than I can mention here.
Please join me in celebrating the blues in the art and life stories of Hughes and Scott-Heron during Black History Month 2018. Even if you don’t get to read their work in February, remember great art is always in vogue! –RNW
The RASHAD Center, Inc. 