I, Too by Langston Hughes
designed by Alexis Joseph
I created poster of the poem "I, too" by Langston Hughes. "I, too" discuses the segregation of African Americans and White Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. The word "I" is used a lot for perspective of his society.
The work hopes to achieve the one point perspective for the viewer to understand the “presence” of being “the darker brother” in the presence of White Americans who are ashamed to eat next to him at the dinner table. The philosophy of the design represents the changing environment of the injustices that people of color go through in American society.
The intent was to let the viewer see themselves in the presence of Langston Hughes, the darker brother that White Americans are too ashamed to also call American, as their colleague in this nation. Words are meant to stimulate the viewer’s perception of what it means to be absent or incomplete in the American society as the government does not accept the fact that people of color suffer a great amount of discrimination in society.
Design elements: Red and Blue and White in the photo represents the American Flag. The photo was edited with Adobe Photoshop to give the appearance of a vintage photo from a Polaroid. DIN Condensed is used for readability for the short stanzas in the poem. I,Too is capitalized on the plate circling the fork and the knife representing silverware the viewer has eaten. Yellow font recedes against the cool tone photo and I too am America represent his strong stance that he is American just like his fellow White Americans .
This poem relates to what is happening today on the subject of how people of color are treated in America. Hate crimes and discrimination is still alive and we have to fight for laws to end discrimination in our society. America is a melting pot of citizens from many different cultures and ancestry, they are still Americans and can eat at the table amongst one another.
