The influential 20th century American writer Langston Hughes describes an incident that caused him to lose his religious beliefs when he was a twelve-year-old boy in his essay titled "Salvation" . A service was held in her aunt's church for the children of the town to be "brought to Jesus" (Hughes). Hughes' aunt and many other people in the congregation said that when Jesus came to Hughes, he would see a light and feel something happening inside him. After the preacher “sang a song about the ninety-nine safe in the fold, but a little lamb left out in the cold,” some of the girls jumped up and ran to the altar (Hughes). Over time, all the children had gone to the altar except Hughes and another boy, Westley. After a while without seeing or hearing Jesus, Westley just wanted the service to end and said, “Damn it! I'm tired of sitting here. Let's stand up and Hughes was one of the first writers to incorporate the use of African American music into his poems. He used different types of music, such as jazz and blues. He felt the need to do so because of his fascination with that form of music and how it made people feel during that time period. He also believed that this was a way to feel better about being an African American in a society indifferent to cultural diversity. Hughes' writings were primarily concerned with the experience of hard-working African Americans in society and how they lived their daily lives as a minority. Hughes describes what it was like to be an African American man in 20th century society and wanted other African Americans to be proud of their race. Hughes wanted his writings about being African American in society to be shown to white people. He hoped this would make white people understand what it meant to be the minority in the community. He also wanted to show America the effects racism and segregation have on America