Charles Blow named inaugural recipient of Langston Hughes Fellowship

The Hutchins Center for African & African American Research announced the creation of the Langston Hughes Fellowship on Jan. 17. Journalist, New York Times columnist, and political analyst Charles M. Blow will serve as the inaugural recipient of the initiative.  

The fellowship, which will support scholars and artists whose work “embodies the spirit of Hughes’ literary legacy and commitment to social justice,” will be housed in the Hutchins Center’s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute. It is set to begin this upcoming fall and will provide recipients with financial support, research resources, and a platform for engagement within the academic community.

“The Langston Hughes Fellowship represents our commitment to nurturing voices that challenge, inspire, and transform our understanding of the African American experience,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center.

He continued: “Charles Blow exemplifies the spirit of Langston Hughes in his fearless pursuit of truth and justice. We are thrilled to honor Hughes’ legacy and support the next generation of thought leaders with this fellowship.”

The fellowship is dedicated to literary great Langston Hughes, who wrote on the themes of racial pride, cultural identity, and social justice during the Harlem Renaissance. He is widely known for his poems, including “Harlem” and “I, Too,” and his 20 years as a weekly columnist for The Chicago Defender.  

“This initiative underscores the ongoing commitment of the Hutchins Center to amplify diverse voices and advance scholarship in African and African American research,” the statement announcing the fellowship added.  

Blow, whose journalistic career spans more than 30 years, said he was “honored and thrilled beyond words” to be named the inaugural recipient of the fellowship. He will leave his position as columnist at The New York Times in early February but will remain a political analyst for MSNBC. Blow, a graduate of Grambling State University, has written two books, a memoir “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” and “The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto.”

The Hutchins Center was launched in 2013 following a gift of more than $15 million from the Hutchins Family Foundation, which was endowed by Glenn H. Hutchins ’77, J.D. ’83, M.B.A. ’83. The center includes the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Center; the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art; the Afro-Latin American Research Institute; the Hiphop Archive & Research Institute; the History Design Studio; the Project on Race & Cumulative Adversity; the Project on Race & Gender in Science and Medicine; the Image of the Black Archive & Library; the Jazz Research Initiative; and two publications, the Du Bois Review and Transition Magazine.