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'Hold fast to dreams'
Keeping the legacy of Langston Hughes alive
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Langston Hughes wrote the two-stanza poem, “Dreams,” in 1922, early in his career as one of America’s greatest poets and a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a movement which celebrated and amplified the artistic, intellectual, and cultural contributions of Black Americans.
The poem emphasizes the importance of holding onto dreams, especially during times of challenge.
Penelope Abiade, a fifth grader at the Lincoln School in Providence, recited “Dreams” from memory on the stage at Trinity Repertory Company, amid the scenery for its production of Blues for an Alabama Sky, a play set in the 1930’s, when the dreams of the Harlem Renaissance fell prey to the realities of the Great Depression.
Seated in the front row, leaning in, smiling, and cheering Penelope on, were Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading Co-Directors April Brown and S. Kai Cameron. Through opportunities such as these for young people to share their talents, alongside its annual community poetry reading of Hughes’ work, the organization evokes the poet’s own words about holding fast to dreams.
“It’s a blessing,” reflects Cameron. “It’s a mission, and it’s always filled with joy, but we have to recognize, in these particular times, it has been very difficult. One of the things we want to ensure, as we do our work, is to include young people.”
“This is such a labor of love,” said Brown in her welcome to the youth event. “I am so proud of all the young people and what they are going to show you. We have students from all over the state, and some of them are just going to show off all the way, so they are going to want to hear the love that you have for them. Don’t hold back.”
Among the highlights of the 2025 youth showcase was recent Classical High School graduate Emmanuel Obisanya’s passionate performance of “Freedom,” Hughes’ poem about the struggle for civil rights and the powerful yearning for liberty and justice. Such moments reflect the heart of the organization’s mission.
The Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading Committee was launched by Anne Edmonds Clanton and has been guided by Black women leaders since 1985. The annual reading, featuring local participants from all walks of life performing selected poems, is the organization’s signature event and has become a premier kickoff celebration for Black History Month in Rhode Island.
The Committee aims to bring people together, uniting them through the poet’s enduring work, and to serve as the ‘torch bearer in New England for Hughes and his important contributions to American history, culture, and civic philosophy.’ Central to this mission is introducing more audiences to Harlem’s poet laureate and sharing his Rhode Island connection through figures like the late George Houston Bass, founding Artistic Director for Brown University’s Rites and Reason Theatre, who was the poet’s personal secretary and literary estate executor.
This year's community poetry reading commemorated the event’s 30th anniversary, with the Rhode Island Foundation providing grant support that has helped sustain the organization’s year-round efforts to foster connection, engage youth, and inspire conversation and understanding.
As voices ‘young, old, and of different backgrounds, professions, abilities, and races’ carry forward the poet's legacy, Langston Hughes' words continue to ring true: when we hold fast to dreams, we keep hope alive for years to come.