I Wander as I Wander is a book that more people need to read. Langston Hughes wrote about travels in Cuba, Haiti, the Soviet Union and Spain. He dealt with racial stereotypes, political systems and other issues. He was invited to travel to the Soviet Union in order to participate in the making of a film. Several other African Americans were also invited as well, because it was assumed that they would all be able to sing well. This was assumed, because they were African Americans. This proved not to be true, and the film was never completed.
I remember from history classes that the Spanish Civil War had been used by the Fascists as a practice field for what became World War II. From this book I learned the role of African Americans who volunteered to go to Spain to fight against these Fascist forces. At the time in Spain these people were recognized as heroes, but they were forgotten afterwards. We say that the allies fought for freedom, but where was the freedom for Spain? The Spanish had hoped that Franco's Fascist government in Spain would be overthrown by the allies, but this did not happen. This government was in place until the death of Franco. The heroes about whom Hughes wrote in this book need to be remembered.
There is much more of interest in this book, but you would gain more by reading it than you would by reading whatever I can write about it.
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