Johnson County Community College
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Julie Haas, Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
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9/06/06
Story by Peggy Graham

JCCC Professor Writes Langston Hughes Guide

    OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Carmaletta Williams, Johnson County Community College English professor, has recently had her study guide for high school teachers, Langston Hughes in the Classroom: Do Nothin’ till You Hear from Me, published by the National Council of Teachers of English.

    The study guide is part of the NCTE’s in-depth studies of individual writers authored by respected writers and scholars. Williams, who has a doctorate in English from the University of Kansas, has published journal articles and encyclopedia entries on Hughes, an early 20th-century black poet and writer. She was asked to write the reader’s guide for KU’s international centenary celebration of Hughes’ birth in 2001.

    “Langston Hughes is probably the most important person in the transformation of African American art and literature,” Williams said. “He was part of the Harlem Renaissance, and his writings were very progressive. He wrote poetry, novels, autobiography, plays, operas and political propaganda.”

    Williams says that high school English teachers have often included a few poems and pieces by Hughes in their curriculum, but the new study guide gives the background of Hughes' life, Hughes’ works and practical lessons for discussion, activities and assignments.

    “Before Hughes, black people had to write primarily to white audiences because they were the publishers,” Williams said. “Hughes and his generation of writers made it acceptable to write candidly about the black experience without making it palatable for whites.”

    Sample chapters and articles of Do Nothin’ till You Hear from Me can be found at www.ncte.org/store/books.