Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Nicolás Guillén: The Struggle against Two Racisms

Reading by Carmen Gómez García
In this essay, excerpted from a chapter on the history of Cuban social poetry, Gómez García introduces the reader to Guillén’s poetry about racism in the United States. This is an ideal text for classes on poetry, Spanish, 20th-century U.S. history, and Latin American history.

Allison Acosta 6/25/23 Allison Acosta 6/25/23

The Influence of Musical Folk Traditions in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén

Lesson by Kathryn Gray
Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén were both young men of African descent born in 1902 who wrote poetry concerned with racial and class issues. One was raised in Cuba, the other in the United States, one in Spanish, the other in English and both had parents of mixed racial descent. In this unit, students explore how the two poet friends share a pattern of using musical influence in their poetry.