My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

 

“I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” – Langston Hughes, The Negro Speaks of Rivers

 

Inspired by the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Rivers became the foundation design for the Langston Hughes Lobby, located in the Schomburg Research Center in Harlem.  The lobby in itself is beautiful as it measures up to 1,150 square feet. According to the Schomburg website, it’s glass-enclosed atrium overlooks the Schomburg  Center’s outdoor courtyard which pays tribute to Arturo A. Schomburg.

 

Designed by the great multidisciplinary sculptor Houston Conwill, this work of art is designed with a terrazzo floor. In a brass cosmogram, this piece contains lyrics, various texts and symbols. This piece pays homage to the African traditions of ritual ground markings. You can see these connections as the figurative river flows into various points on the ground. The river, representing the Nile, touches points representing the Euphrates and The Congo, all three being mentioned in Hughes’s poem. What I also found interesting in this mural is that this body of water also touches Mississippi where Hughes was born. The river also extends beyond the floor as it exits the lobby, representing the ties to Black People across the globe. No matter where Black people may drift to, the river connects them to one focal point; Africa. 

The biggest surprise for me was finding out that this mural is also a tomb. Beneath the mural lies the ashes of Langston Hughes. When finally completed, there was a service held for the final farewell of Hughes. Many activists and poets came out to say good-bye such as Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka. However, instead of mourning, those who attended turned this solemn event into a celebration of life. There is a picture of Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka dancing on top of this mural. 

Truly a deep and meaningful piece, you can always see this beautiful mural in the Schomburg Center in Harlem for free, and possibly dance on top of it like Maya and Baraka.