His writings were first hand experiences of the hardship and oppression for which African Americans faced for many years. He did not express hate or violence but he wrote in an innocent way, which people can look at and really feel sorry for him and his people. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was Hughes first poem written in 1919. I personally liked this poem the best. To me, it symbolized togetherness and a sense of everyone being connected in some way.
All rivers eventually come together into one body of water.
Nobody can tell where the water came from when it is in an ocean, we just consider it water. Hughes wanted to use this metaphor when dealing with people. To him it did not matter where you came from, your skin color, or the language you spoke. Everyone was equal because we all came from the same roots. This was the major theme in the poem.