How It Feels To Be Colored Me Analysis

During a time where African American literature was fueled with racial segregation and pride in ones race during the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston offers a different and controversial approach with her literary work “How it feels to be colored me”.(13) In the works Hurston uses several colloquialisms, anecdotes, imagery and figurative expression to invite the reader on an adventure filled with pleasure. The poem takes the reader from the beginning of the Hurston’s childhood back in Eatonville, Florida into adulthood in Orlando, Florida. Hurston proves that overcoming racism can be accomplished by uniting the public and ignoring the visual difference in a person’s outer appearance. Hurston’s strength, individuality and resilience scream

     In the fall of 1919, Zora Neale Hurston became a freshman at Howard University. Hurston studied intermittently at Howard for the next five years; the institution she would proudly call “The capstone of the Negro education in the world.” Hurston enjoyed college life even though she was a decade older than other freshmen. With

Hurston, on the other hand, lived in a town where only blacks lived until she was thirteen years old. Therefore, she only knew the “black” self. There was no second identity to contend with. She states that “white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there.”2 She does not feel anger when she is discriminated against. She only wonders how anyone can not want to be in her company. She “has no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored” (Hurston 1712).

In the all black community of Eatonville, Zora felt like members of her town saw her for who she was. There were no racial barriers in the community because of everyone’s shared culture, and history. Growing up in her small community, she came to love it and she felt a strong tie to her hometown. She illustrates this by saying, “But I was their Zora nevertheless. I belonged to them, to the nearby hotels, to the county—everybody’s Zora” (Hurston 42). Zora argues that because everyone was of the same color, the community could see past racial labels. A “black Zora” could not exist in Eatonville, and it was not an indicator of who she was because describing Zora as “black” in Eatonville does not do her identity justice. Zora could be Zora, because she felt no race, because she was so comfortable in her skin she could be a part of a community of people. In Eatonville, she did not see people because of racial labels, she had no knowledge of the stereotypes associated with black people. Because of her ignorance, Zora looked deep into people’s character as a young girl.

The memoir “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, was first published in 1928, and recounts the situation of racial discrimination and prejudice at the time in the United States. The author was born into an all-black community, but was later sent to a boarding school in Jacksonville, where she experienced “race” for the first time. Hurston not only informs the reader how she managed to stay true to herself and her race, but also inspires the reader to abandon any form of racism in their life. Especially by including Humor, Imagery, and Metaphors, the author makes her message very clear: Everyone is equal.

"How it Feels to be Colored Me" was written in 1928. Zora, growing up in an all-black town, began to take note of the differences between blacks and whites at about the age of thirteen. The only white people she was exposed to were those passing through her town of Eatonville, Florida, many times going to or coming from Orlando. The primary focus of "How it Feels to be Colored Me" is the relationship and differences between blacks and whites.

Although Zora Neale Hurston and Jamaica Kincaid lived in different times, thematically their writing had similar themes. If they had been contemporaries, they most certainly would have discussed their common experiences as black women who faced financial challenges and the racial divide that they experienced in their daily lives. Without a doubt, their writing was personally cathartic. Although in Kincaid’s writing, she addresses her issues with her mother head on, I have no doubt that Hurston’s stories were also influenced by her early family life.

Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were great writers but their attitudes towards their personal experience as an African American differed in many ways. These differences can be attributed to various reasons that range from gender to life experience but even though they had different perceptions regarding the African American experience, they both shared one common goal, racial equality through art. To accurately delve into the minds of the writers’ one must first consider authors background such as their childhood experience, education, as well their early adulthood to truly understand how it affected their writing in terms the similarities and

One of Hurston’s stories, How it Feels to Be Colored Me, reflects the author’s perspective of the colored race (specifically herself). According to the story, when Hurston reached the age of thirteen, she truly “became colored” (1040). The protagonist was raised in Eatonville, Florida, which was mainly inhabited by the colored race. She noted no difference between herself and the white community except that they never lived in her hometown. Nevertheless, upon leaving Eatonville, the protagonist began losing her identity as “Zora,” instead, she was recognized as only being “a little colored girl” (1041). Hurston’s nickname “Zora” represents her individuality and significance; whereas, the name “a little colored girl” was created by a white society to belittle her race and gender (1041).

Zora Neale Hurston was so proud to be from the black community that she mentioned it in her writings; she even changed it to her birthplace. Eatonville, Florida, had a massive impact on Zora’s life. It shaped her life and writing style. Hurston explains: "Anyway, the force from somewhere in Space which commands you to write in the first place, gives you no choice. You take up the pen when you are told, and write what is commanded. There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you."

In the text, Zora gives background information about her childhood and family life growing up. The autobiography first took place in Eatonville, Florida, which was known as Zora’s hometown. Zora Neale Hurston was an African American, female who always had a mind of her own even at a young age. Zora was not the average child while growing up, she enjoyed trying new things and she spoke her mind which could label her as deviant to the outside world. Zora also showed early signs of deviance

Going on a drive, I decided to visit Eatonville to learn more about the history, a history that is hard to find because there isn’t a museum to celebrate the legacy of Eatonville. Located six miles from north Orlando is a small town deeply rooted in black history, the story of Eatonville can be seen through a visit to the Zora Neal Hurston museum and read in books written by Zora Neal Hurston “Mules and Men “and “There Eyes Was Watching God”, a book that was later adapted into a movie. A town envisioned, Eatonville became what it is today from courage, progress, and the spirit of people who were determined to make a life for themselves.

In some of Hurston’s works she acknowledges Eatonville, which was the first all-black community in America that she moved to when she was only three years old (Kimmons, 3). Hurston viewed Eatonville as a place where blacks could ultimately be themselves without having to conform to the norms of a white society (Kimmons, 1). Hurston was protected from the realisms of judgement and disgust towards African Americans; since Eatonville was described to be somewhat safe from lynchings and other violence related to racism. After

Despite the fact of being an African American during the early 1900s, Zora Neale was a very successful writer, currently being one of the most recognized writers out there. She was born in Alabama but moved to a Negro town in Florida when still a toddler. Hurston’s life was filled with happiness and innocence until she was sent off to school in Jacksonville following her mother’s death at age thirteen, where she confronted her first taste of segregation. Coming from slave grandparents, she experienced racism, although claims it never depressed her. After struggling with being a student and working at the same time she disappeared from public records for a decade and then reappeared in 1917 still lacking a High School Diploma.

One of the traits that would represent me well for the IB program is open-minded. I cherish traveling. I travel almost every summer and I love visiting the culture. I try to learn many languages, one of my lifetime goals is being a polyglot because speaking someone else's native language makes them more passionate about it. I'm very careful about what I say, I really do think before I speak. I often try to view my words in someone else's perspective because I do say some moronic things sometimes. One of my favorite classes is Social Studies, due to the fact I get introduced to different religions and government standpoints. I really like learning other people's beliefs because it feels like you see another way the world is the way it is. Plus I love politics, I've recently gotten so into it that I can probably be president myself.