The Negro Speaks of Rivers

“The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling (1899)

This poem was written about the Philippine-American War, and it promotes a colonial message of empire by urging Americans to engage in the annexation of The Philippines. The poem argues that white people are morally obligated to spread “civilization,” and that colonialism is the only way to spread progress to non-white lands. Though it will come at a steep cost to the colonizers, the poem’s speaker believes colonialism will ultimately benefit the world. This poem has a long history of being used to justify colonialism and white supremacy, and even upon publication, there was tremendous resistance to its message. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” rejects Kipling’s message.

“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes (1922)

This short poem embodies the same themes as “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The speaker is a mother who tells her son about the struggle of her life and the necessity of being strong and persevering. This poem demonstrates Hughes’s use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which is an English dialect created by African Americans and developed over the course of 400 years. The diction would have been striking to contemporary audiences, as most poetry did not use such dialects.