The very existence of the squadron was a milestone. The U.S. Army was still segregated during the war, and it took the intercession of the Roosevelt administration to authorize the training of black pilots. As they were trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, they became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
The poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," which Hughes wrote while crossing the Mississippi, first appeared in 1921. The poem evokes African heritage, and is widely anthologized.

Hughes's first collection of poems, The Weary Blues, appeared in 1926.

The essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," which Hughes published in 1926, was considered something of a manifesto for black writers and artists in America. In 1930 Hughes published his first novel, Not Without Laughter, and throughout the 1930s he wrote a number of plays and short stories.

Langston Hughes traveled extensively, was active in radical politics, and wielded considerable literary influence until his death, in Harlem, in 1967.
It is seldom argued that America’s youth does not at least somewhat benefit from having an annual Black History Month, however, several critics argue that the adult population now perceives the month of February from a different angle.[2] One question that has been raised is in regard to why the month chosen to celebrate Black history is February, which is the shortest month of the year.[3]

It is argued that Black History Month has become a “ready made excuse to ignore African American history for the other 11 months of the year”, thus promoting racism. Journalists argue that by dedicating a single month of the year to black history, it provokes a tendency for people to assume that black history is separate from American history.[4] Joseph Wayne states that “One month out of every year, Americans are given permission to commemorate the achievements of