What viewpoint does Hughes use in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"?

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is one of Langston Hughes's
most famous poems. He uses first-person point of view of a Negro person (it is never
stated whether the narrator is male or female) in this poem; but, remember, the poet
him/herself and the narrator are not necessarily the same person. Hughes's narrator
represents the African race, a timeless, first person perspective through which the
narrator is identifying with the rivers of the world and the connection of his race with
those rivers. Hughes wants to demonstrate that his people are a vital part of history
and that they carry the memories of that history in their souls just as the rivers carry
people from other cultures across the world.