The Black Woman: An Anthology
by Toni Cade Bambara (Editor)
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Description
A collection of early, emerging works from some of today's most celebrated African American female writers When it was first published in 1970, The Black Woman introduced readers to an astonishing new wave of voices that demanded to be heard. In this groundbreaking volume of original essays, poems, and stories, a chorus of outspoken women -- many who would become leaders in their fields: bestselling novelist Alice Walker, poets Audre Lorde and Nikki Giovanni, writer Paule Marshall, activist show more Grace Lee Boggs, and musician Abbey Lincoln among them -- tackled issues surrounding race and sex, body image, the economy, politics, labor, and much more. Their words still resonate with truth, relevance, and insight today. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Even though most of these essays were written in the late 1960s and early 1970s they are still speaking to some of the same situations we as black women are facing in 2009. This book would be great gift to give a young black woman. It's so amazing to read the early work of such greats as Alice Walker and Nikki Giovanni. This book is a treasure....
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Zora Canon
100 works; 6 members
The Zora Canon
98 works; 4 members
Schomburg Centennial Reading List
100 works; 4 members
Author Information
Toni Cade Bambara, a well-known teacher, writer, and social activist, was born on March 25, 1939, in New York. Bambara's mother was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and fostered creativity in her daughter. After graduating from Queens College in 1959, Bambara worked as a social investigator for the New York Department of Welfare. This show more experience influenced her writing and reflected her interest in the welfare of the black community. Bambara returned to school, receiving her MA from City College of New York in 1965, where she taught until 1969. It was in the 1970s that Bambara wrote her most important works, including Black Woman, Southern Black Utterances Today, and Gorilla My Love. Bambara's works are frequently written in black street dialect and are set in the rural South and the urban North. She is interested in the identities and experiences of the black community and writes about their effects as a society. She has also authored several film and television scripts. Bambara is a frequent guest lecturer, visiting professor, and community leader. She received an American Book Award in 1981 Her novel The Salt Eaters (1980) is centered around a healing event that coincides with a community festival in the fictional city of Claybourne, Georgia. The novel Those Bones Are Not My Child or If Blessings Come (title of the manuscript), was published posthumously in 1999. It deals with the disappearance and murder of forty black children in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981. It was called her masterpiece by Toni Morrison, who edited it and also gathered some of Bambara's short stories, essays, and interviews in the volume Deep Sightings & Rescue Missions: Fiction, Essays & Conversations. (Vintage, 1996). Toni Cade Bambara was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1993 and died of it in 1995, at age 56. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Disambiguation notice
- The story "Tell Martha Not to Moan" is incorrectly attributed to "Shirley Williams" in this anthology, instead of Sherley Anne Williams.
Classifications
- Genre
- Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 301.41 — Society, government, & culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Sociology and anthropology Formerly: Social structure
- LCC
- E185.86 .C28 — History of the United States United States Elements in the population Afro-Americans Status and development since emancipation
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 268
- Popularity
- 121,146
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.45)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 4
