There Was a Party for Langston

Look up one of the poems by Langston, Maya, or Amiri that the book references. Write an essay on this poem and its meaning. Why do you think it is an important poem to include in the book? What ideas does the poem represent?

Why does the book call Maya and Amiri Langston’s “word-children”? Why was Langston important to these other authors?

The book indicates that some people thought Langston’s “spelling deserved yelling.” With an adult, research how and why some people reacted badly to Langston’s writing in real life. Why did they react this way? How and why was Langston “brave” by ignoring this “yelling”?

Why are joy, celebrations, and parties important in this book? How do they connect to the history of systemic oppression that Black people faced?

What do the illustrations add to this story that the words alone cannot express? Pick one illustration and write an essay about what the image adds to the narrative. How does the form of the illustration connect to the book’s content or words? Consider why it was included, the ideas associated with it, and whether it alludes to another poem.

Identify a literary device in the text and analyze its significance. How does it function and connect to the words and illustrations?

Find a poem by Langston, Maya, or Amiri that is not referenced in this book. Pick a line or a few words from that poem and create your own illustrations for the lines, using the Pumphrey brothers’ illustrations as inspiration.

Why is the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture important, both in the book and in real life?