The Cambridge Companion Joanne M Braxton Analysis

During the 1900’s, society limited the rights of African Americans. Gwendolyn Brooks was a writer who experienced discrimination from the white population, and even African Americans who were fairer in complexion. She originally wrote about the oppression of African Americans, and their day-to-day struggles. Later on, she expanded her writings to include the struggles of African Americans everywhere. By the end of her life, she inspired thousands of young writers to write about things they’re passionate about. The impact Gwendolyn Brooks has on my life is incomparable to any other important figure I've studied. It's the steps that she took that made her a global leader and will impact my development as a global leader.

One profound piece of African American literature is Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. This revolutionary work provides audiences with poems regarding the various aspects of life and challenges that are faced by black women, from the perspectives of black women. One poem in the text that demonstrates this viewpoint is the lady in yellow’s “Graduation Nite” poem. The feminine gaze utilized in this poem allows the woman to have agency over her body, and address the concerning ways in which women are socialized; however, this gaze is problematic in the way that is treats men. The female perspective is an essential part to the pieces of this text, it is also vital that these view points do no take on the same destructive behavior that this text is attempting to end.

In “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens”, Alice Walker looks to educate us on the hardships that almost all black women face when trying to express themselves through things such as art. She delves into many sociological and psychological concepts that have affected black women throughout human history. These concepts and ideologies created a realm for mass exclusion, discrimination, and oppression of many African American women, including Alice Walker’s Mother, who Alice utilizes as one of her particular examples. The writing thematically aims to show how these concepts of sexism, racism, and even classism have contributed to black women’s lack of individuality, optimism, and fulfillment for generations. The author does a tremendous job of defending and expanding upon her arguments. She has a credible background, being a black woman that produces the art of literature herself. As well as being raised by one, Walker’s first-hand experience warrants high regard. Therefore, her use of abstract and introspective language is presented clearly and convincingly. Also, her use of evidence and support from sources like Jean Toomer, Virginia Woolf, and Phillis Wheatley, all produce more validity for her stance through poems, quotes, and even experiences. All these individuals have their own accounts pertaining to the oppression of black women and their individuality. Successfully arguing that the artistry plights of black women described in “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” are

Zora Neale Hurston is a trailblazer. Back then people ridiculed her, but she felt the pride and dignity within herself. She was seen as an African-American grandmother in many images of black women writers (Showalter 221). Her talent for African-American literature excited the new readers who were constantly reading her literary works (“Hurston,” Feminist). Occasionally, both black and white supporters reviewed her books (McKay). She demonstrates a larger pattern of white American culture to be substantially inspiring in her interest with politics (“Hurston,” Authors). The works of Hurston would affect on her literary work that is shared through others. Understanding Zora Neale Hurston’s typical themes and concerns in her body of literary

When I think of a poet, images of scowling, mustached men whose 19th century wardrobe could use an update spring to mind—a somber Edgar Allen Poe type whose ink strokes inquire of unrequited love interests and dreary days alone in the snow. I certainly do not imagine modern, multi-ethnic women who live in the same state as me. However, as soon as I read Natasha Trethewey’s poetry, I immediately admired the way her words so effortlessly danced on the page, my mind’s eye watching the elegant choreography with each syllable read. Moreover, when I learned of her tragic history, and the strength and resilience she possessed to carry on, I could not help but to respect the way she turned pain into beautiful art. The right words carry great power

Sitting on the bus, an African American woman was viciously barked at by the white bus driver to give up her seat to a white man. The woman was Rosa Parks and this event sparked the beginning of the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the U.S and labeled her as the “first lady of civil rights.” For years, Parks and people of color were seen as detestable in the eyes of white Americans. They were forced to work dehumanizing jobs and follow rigid social predestinations. Women, in particular, carried these fates with them long after this era as they were seen as inferior to men; women were given limited rights and were expected to comply to the stereotypical duties. It would thus be apparent that they would wish to be liberated from such dehumanizing work. Such an opportunity came during the Harlem Renaissance when these downtrodden females were ultimately given a voice. African American writers, such as Georgia Douglas Johnson, emerged and finally had the power to exploit their years of pain in an attempt at reform. Georgia Douglas Johnson wrote about oppression in her poems “Common Dust,” “Black Woman,” and “The Heart of a Woman” to expose society’s unjust treatment of African American women and inspire change.

In her life and in her writings, Zora Neale Hurston, with the South and its traditions as her backdrop, celebrated the culture of black Americans, Negro love and pride with a feminine perspective that was uncommon and untapped in her time. While Hurston can be considered one of the greats of African-American literature, it’s only recently that interest in her has been revived after decades of neglect (Peacock 335). Sadly, Hurston’s life and Hurston’s writing didn’t receive notoriety until after her death in 1960.

In exploring the lives of African American Slave Women, historians use several different types of sources to describe and accurately depict their lives during the antebellum slave period. Through the difficult times that female slaves endured, they were shown to be depicted by their masters as being dependent, childlike and sometimes lazy. Slave women however saw their plight quite differently as they had to be quick thinkers and adaptable to their surroundings to manage all the responsibilities that were placed upon them (DuBois 2012). The uses of writing as a means of a source was a reliable method of recording and tracking history through the lives of slave women. In the sample writings of a few slave women from their letters of the

In her book, she writes short poems about issues she’s witnessed and been a part of throughout her life. Her constant experience with being humiliated in public, looked down upon, just because she’s considered different in society. All because she’s an African American woman. Just like the thousands of immigrants from Australia. They will be frowned upon because they’re outsiders of America, and do not belong.

The Great Depression, Segregation, and the Harlem Renaissance were all undeniably important parts of our country’s history, and Zora Neale Hurston was one extraordinary woman who lived through all three. Today considered to be one of the most important African American authors ever, Hurston was a successful author at the peak of her career. Although she had to endure a great deal to get to where she was, Hurston never let her surroundings get her down, “I do not weep at the world I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife” (Zora). Hurston’s effects on the writing community and the world demonstrate the struggles she had to go through throughout her life.

The Great Depression, Segregation, and the Harlem renaissance were all undeniably important parts of our country’s history, and Zora Neale Hurston was one extraordinary woman who lived through all three. Hurston was a successful author during the peak of her career, and is today considered to be one of the most important African American writers ever, but she had to go through a great deal to get to where she was. Hurston’s effects on the writing community and the world show the struggles she had to go through throughout her life.

The poem, “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde is a both a confessional and identity poem. She is not only addressing her internal battle and self-suffering, but also discussing the societal inequities African American women were suffering in the United States. The poem’s diction, on the surface, produces a tranquil tone to the poem. This facet of tranquility in the poem is used to express how her battle against inequity will not be fought with violence or hatred, and how she is not blaming any specific party or institution for her personal suffering. She instead plans to use the power and beauty of words to communicate the flaws of the image of women, fight against injustice and racism, and alleviate her internal despair. “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde is an anthem for African American women and uses vivid imagery, ancestral references, and a call to action to connect to the reader and enact a fight against the underrepresentation of African American women.

Oh’ to be a woman, it can be magnificent it can be frightening. To be a Black woman it is exhausting, burdensome, and a phenomenal thing. Alice Walker’s groundbreaking epistolary novel The Color Purple exposes what it’s like to live in this world as a woman through the Black female characters. The novel commences with a letter written by the protagonist/narrator named Celie a fourteen-year-old African American girl living in Macon, Georgia. Throughout the novel she writes a series of letters addressed to “God,” she discloses her day-to-day life and the ill-treatment she endures at the hands of her stepfather and husband Mr. ______. The letter spans her transition from a fourteen-year-old girl who is being taken advantage of to a liberated woman.

         Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in Georgia. She is a famous black -American writer who is concerned about the identity of black Americans, and especially the black female experience. Until 1960, black American literature was driven by black male writers such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Jean Toomer, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes. Because of discrimination, black women writers were not able to express themselves. They were restrained by society. There was a major resistance to conservative culture. Women writers who raised a hare in a society were Toni Morrison, Carolyn, Paule Marshall, Nikki Giovani, Alice Walker. Among them, a writer who was the most focused on the issue of discrimination and women’s right in black society was Alice Walker. Donna Seaman, a senior editor for Booklist, interviewed Alice Walker that “Segregation in Georgia, our apartheid, was a real blow to me. It was a real shock to see that people would actually spend their time making horrible laws and killing people and tearing down our school when, instead, they could be admiring what was all around them”. Even she was not allowed to enter a public library in her town because of racial discrimination. She had described her experiences of racism, human rights abuses, and discrimination since she was very young. Laurie McMillan said, “Walker is very aware of the history of oppression of African Americans, and she recognizes the importance of building a heritage to help African Americans thrive.” (113) Alice Walker went through many experiences influenced her views about herself as well views of everything that surrounded

‘Muliebrity’ and ‘Checking Out Me History’ are both poems representing the idea of pride in one’s identity, especially when in a position where one’s identity is that of a minority. ‘Muliebrity’ by Sujata Bhatt describes the importance of womanhood and the power women have, despite having been oppressed for many years throughout history. On a similar note, ‘Checking Out Me History’ by John Agard tells of a black man’s history (and therefore identity) being erased and untold of.