African American Writers

The importance of having black writers lies within their works. Black writers have a distinct culture. They have different experiences than other races. Therefore, their perspective is unique. Black writers are important because they are not afraid to write about the treatment of African-Americans, experience within the black community, and the culture of black life.

Alice Walker writes about the treatment of African American culture. She has written novels, short stories, and poems. Her most notable novel was The Color Purple.

It tells of the life of a woman living in Georgia, in the early twentieth century, amidst racism and patriarchy. Alice Walker is known to promote racial and gender equality within her works. Toni Morrison discusses black experience, often of women, within the black community. Her novels have won Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes. Her novel, Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Beloved tells the story of a woman escaping from slavery, as well as the sacrifices she made to do so. Toni Morrison portrayed the struggle of escaping and the consequences of failure.

Zora Neale Hurston tells of African American culture of rural South. She wrote many short stories as well as novels, plays, and essays. One of her best-known work is Their Eyes Were Watching God. It tells the backstory of a confident woman who returned to town after an arranged marriage, becoming a trophy wife to her second husband, and then killing her third husband in self-defense. None of the men were good husbands as one was misogynistic and could care less, the next was manipulative and controlling, and her last one tried to steal her money and run away at one point.

Langston Hughes portrays black life in America from the twenties to the sixties. For the most part, Langston Hughes wrote poetry. He also wrote plays, short stories, and novels. His most distinguishing piece of work was The Negro Speaks of Rivers. The poem compares the Mississippi River to other rivers near his ancestors.

Black writers are important because they do not fear to write about racial struggles and experiences of African Americans. Many stories promote racial equality. Like all writers, they had different styles of writing due to varied experiences and unique opinions. The aforementioned black writers told of African American culture and how they were treated. Black writers are very important and should be encouraged to write about their experiences and those of their ancestors.

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