Langston Hughes, "I , Too" (1925)
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll sit at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
'Eat in the kitchen,' then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed,--
I, too, am America.
Published in Survey Graphic, March 1925
Also published in The New Negro: an Interpretation, 1925
Also published in The Weary Blues, 1926