In light of Black History Month, it seems incumbent to discuss a few of the literary accomplishments of black women. The last century has seen a huge boom in literature of all kinds, and the contributions of black women have been unique, beautiful, and powerful.
Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye is about how internalized racism creates ugliness where there was previously none. The weight of the racism experienced by all of the characters is a burden that never fully lifts. There are those who survive, those who embrace, and those who break. Morrison protects the central figure of her novel, a girl named Pecola Breedlove, by shifting the perspectives from which the reader gets to see her. Breedlove believes that if she could just have blue eyes, then she would be beautiful and worth loving. It’s a wonderfully lyrical book and tragic in scope.
Bell Hooks’ book Ain’t I a Woman? gets its title from Sojourner Truth’s famous feminist speech from 1851. Truth pointed out that black women were expected to work just as hard as black men whereas white women were supposed to be too delicate and refined — but she was still a woman. Hooks does the same thing, but on a broader and more systematic scale. She analyzes the devaluation of black femininity and points out the racism inherent in the white feminist movement. While upholding women’s rights, the movement did not also uphold poor or lower-class or non-white women’s rights. Hooks’ books are still taught in classes today.
Maya Angelou is noted as a poet, playwright, and biographer. Her I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is her bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. Reportedly, Angelou was reluctant to write a book at first until she was dared to make a biography real literature. Like Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in some ways, many things in Angelou’s early life were deeply tragic, and she did not shy from displaying them. Unlike Morrison’s style, however, Angelou uses “I” to mean “we.” These things happen to one person to make a better story, but in reality, they may have been happening to many. Angelou speaks not just for herself, but for the women of her generation. Her tragedy is their tragedy, and her triumph is their triumph. The caged bird sings for itself, not its cage.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, is something of a precursor to Angelou’s biographies. She writes the story of Janie Crawford, a black woman who learns to go after love. Unlike other members of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston wrote to reaffirm the value of black communities and the pursuit of individual joy. Crawford is a black woman who was always valued, but that value put her into situations where she was not always loved. Her first husband was a rich man who wanted someone just to work. Her second husband was a rising man who wanted a trophy wife. Her third husband was just a man who loved her, and Crawford held all the power in the relationship. Learning to love herself is Crawford’s victory and the pace of the narrative.
Alice Walker’s book The Color Purple is one of the most famous books authored by an African American. Its narrative is fairly complicated, but its theme centers around the male oppression of women. Celie, its protagonist, suffers continual sexual abuse and patriarchal control, but she learns to free herself through the love of other women. She leaves her husband, starts up her own business, and owns her independence. The book ends with all of Celie’s family together and a brighter future. Love and self-respect are empowering forces.
The power of these books is in relating counter-cultural experiences and maintaining means of overcoming great pain to a sense of self. They are about understanding and refining life stories in order to give them meaning. They are, in the best sense of the word, literature.