I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.

Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dareSay to me,“Eat in the kitchen,“Then.

Besides,They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.1994