The poem indicates that the speaker is a twenty-two year old person of color. Although the poem does not indicate whether the speaker is male or female, at the time not as many women attended college as they do now, and it seems

Through the poem the speaker begins to try to figure himself out by identifying where he lives. The first place he mentions is Harlem, the borough in which he is staying, and proceeds to say “Harlem, I hear you: hear you, hear me-we two-you, me, talk on this page” (Myers). In saying this it seems that the speaker feels a deep connection to Harlem and feel like he is one with Harlem. He perhaps feels that Harlem hears and understands what he is going through. After that line he proceeds to say “(I hear New York too) me-who?” (Meyers). The speaker included New York, but just briefly mentions it and includes it in parenthesis. This brief mention is indicative of a less intimate connection that the speaker feels with New York than with Harlem. Toward the end of the poem the speaker mentions that he, along with the teacher, are American. This is how he ultimately defines himself.

The setting in the poem also gives more evidence of racial inequality at that time. The college is set on “the hill above Harlem” (Meyers). This seems to imply that the college, as well as the education that it provides, is out of reach of Harlem. It also implies that the college, as well as the white students that attend it, is “higher” or better than the colored people who live in Harlem, and they look down on these people. The route that this student takes while leaving to go home, “The steps from the hill that lead down to Harlem, through the park, then [I] cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and [I] come to the Y, where [I] take the elevator” (Meyers) is typical of the struggles that people of color had to overcome at that time in order to attend college, or be successful in any other way.

Some topics in this essay:
Langston Hughes, Avenue Seventh, York Harlem, Christian Association, Harlem” Meyers, poem speaker, Theme English, hill harlem”, poem easy read, racial inequality, attending college, people teach, students learn, white people, tempo poem, themes poem, black people,