The For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf

Alice Walker speaks of her mother and grandmothers’ dark pasts of slavery and discrimination throughout their lives. Although women through the years have had it tough, colored women have and continue to have a deeper struggle within society. Alice Walker’s essay is inspiring and heartwarming because it tells of how the women in their lives have found beauty within a dark part of history. Her mother although had little, found a sense of identity with the joy of her own vibrant garden. She speaks a lot about how many people of color continued to keep their identity and spirituality in a time where they could have been discouraged. I think that Walker’s essay is really eye opening because so many women have struggled before us to pave the way for women of all

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

African American women have long been stereotyped, discriminated against and generalized in this country. They have had to face both being black in America while also being a woman in America. African American women encountered and still do encounter double discrimination of both sex and race (Cuthbert, 117). Women like Elise Johnson McDougald, Marion Vera Cuthbert and Alice Dunbar-Nelson all tried to shed light on what it was like to be an African American woman living in the 20th century yet literature often portrayed them as emotional, hypersexual, unintelligent and of lesser worth. The literature highlighted that African American women have to serve both their employer and their husbands and families. They are not supposed to have an opinion or stand up for themselves, especially to a white man. ***Concluding sentence?

The poems ‘Still I Rise’ and ‘Unknown Girl’ both explore the way women are expected to behave in specific societies. ‘Still I Rise’ focuses on Maya Angelou’s refusal to accept racism and to allow “them”, white oppressors, to push her down. ‘Unknown Girl’ focuses on Moniza Alvi’s want to be accepted in a society where she belongs, but can’t call her own.

The aim of the thesis is to analyze and discuss the African American women`s quest for voice, acceptance and fulfilment. The analysis will be based on three selected novels, namely, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Color Purple and Beloved. Since their authors - Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker all - experienced some difficulties in their life related to the subject matter of the thesis, their biographies will be sketched, too. The analysis focuses especially on three women who are the protagonists of the selected novels. Their personal and social problems will be juxtaposed within the context of the criticism selected for the purpose of this thesis.

Society has always thought of racism as a war given to the lowly African American from the supposedly high class white man, but no one thought there would be prejudice within a hierarchical class system inside the black community. However within that class system, history has shown that darker colored women are at the deep trenches of the totem pole. In the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” African American women are put under harm and control exposing the racism and sexism with their community. Through the life of Janie Crawford, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the concept of a woman finding her independence in a black, hierarchical, and racist society.

Allison Joseph and Sekou Sundiata are both great writers who engage the world by expressing their struggles through poetry. Both authors write about how people make assumptions because of what they hear and see around them. Their poems discuss the altercations and obstacles they have faced only because of the color of their skin. In the poem “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person,” Joseph incorporates a wide breath of experiences from her point of view. She expresses her strong emotion by using descriptive language which allows us to read with emotion. In “Blink your eyes,” Sundiata shows the intensity of his feelings by using the repetition of phrases and reinforcing the poems irony.

Racial bias and discrimination have historically constricted African Americans from living free and prosperous lives. Especially, in America’s Progressive Era when “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” happened to be published. This groundbreaking essay, written by Zora Neale Hurston, provided African Americans with a unique approach to defying racial discrimination. Namely, Hurston’s unique defense from societal discrimination is in her steadfast optimism towards the limitations of being African American. Therefore, Hurston’s essay achieved more than bringing hope to African Americans it also provided a solution in this period of bitter adversity. This is what distinguishes Nora’s essay from other literary works because it focuses on modeling a beneficial mindset rather than listing the hardships that black people are subjected to. Zora Neale Hurston is an influential role model for African Americans, she argues that racial discrimination and unjust biases can be overcome by having pride and optimism in the progression of one’s race.

During the civil rights movement many women and minorities were suppressed from being able to be true to themselves and what they believe in. Civil rights advocate and “womanist”, Alice Walker, in her poems, “Burial,” “Be Nobody’s Darling,” and “While Love is Unfashionable,” analyzes the importance of breaking away from the stereotypes set by society in efforts to prevent struggle. Walker uses a variety of parallelism, allusions, and metaphors to persuade readers to break free from the crowd and embrace the outcast found within the truest version of oneself.

The early 1900s was a very challenging time for Negroes especially young women who developed issues in regards to their identities. Their concerns stemmed from their skin colors. Either they were fair skinned due mixed heritage or just dark skinned. Young African American women experienced issues with racial identity which caused them to be in a constant struggle that prohibits them from loving themselves and the skin they are in. The purpose of this paper is to examine those issues in the context of selected creative literature. I will be discussing the various aspects of them and to aid in my analysis, I will be utilizing the works of Nella Larsen from The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Jessie Bennett Redmond Fauset,

The award-winning novel, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is a story about a woman going through cruel things such as: incest, rape, and physical abuse. This greatly written novel comes from a very active feminist author who used many of her own experiences, as well as things that were happening during that era, in her writing. “The Color Purple” takes place in the early 1900's, and symbolizes the economic, emotional, and social deprivation that African American women faced in Southern states of America. The main character of the story is Celie, a fourteen-year old that starts writing letters to God for thirty years, and then to her sister, Nette, who ran away to Africa to save herself from the troubles Celie went through. Celie starts off as a pushover and very dependent girl that would eventually grow and develop into an independent flourishing woman that opens a business making pants for all genders. This novel shows the hardship of a girl becoming a woman over the course of her life and eventually standing up for herself and being confident. Many of the experiences and characters of “The Color Purple” are based on history of that time and a bit of the author’s personal experiences. Her use of epistolary allows the reader to learn everything in the point of view of Celie. Alice Walker's influences for writing this novel range from her childhood experiences to the white society in her hometown of Eatonville, Georgia. Even during these times, it still shows that women

In her book “After Mecca: Women, Poets and the Black Arts Movement”, Cheryl Clarke asserts that conceptual “blackness” is inseparable from gender and sexuality. However, despite of this stance, most academic discourse about “blackness,” as a concept, ignores these intersections. In my opinion, this is because Black male authors, arguably the center of the Black canon, frequently erase Black female experiences. Unless a woman is writing or editing a piece, the experiences and sexualities of Black women are rendered invisible. Therefore, in this essay, I hope to explore how due to not being double jeopardized by both sex and sexuality, cisgendered, heterosexual Black male identifying authors often completely dismiss opportunities to complicate their writings with the intersections of gender and sexuality. In addition, I aim to confirm that those most adept at discussing the gendered and sexual dynamics of Blackness are Black women.

While reading the poem “Daystar,” written by Rita Dove, its readers most likely do not ask thought-provoking questions like “Why did Dove write this?” or “What is the true meaning behind this poem?” but the poem has deeper meaning than what its outside layer portrays. Dove, an African American woman born in 1952, has not only viewed the racism of the United States society, but she has also seen how gender can or cannot play a role in the advancement of a person’s life (Rita Dove: The Poetry Foundation). The poem “Daystar” not only takes an outside perspective on the everyday life of a woman, but it closely relates to Dove’s family history. Dove uses the experiences of her life as a woman, and the knowledge gained from living in countries

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.

Sometimes people hold on to our past which could cause us to lose understanding of others and in the world. For an example, the poem “To a dark Girl” by Gwendolyn Bennett is about how young black girls carry pain on the shoulders and they should let it go. This essay is about how the author’s use of tone , word choice , and imagery helps the following theme emerge in “To a Dark Girl”: that black girls should never hold on to their past.