The story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a story that was written during the Black Pride Movement in the 1960s. The Black Pride Movement was a movement where African Americans were discovering their heritage. Walker uses Maggie, Mama, and Dee to show how this important historical event impacted people. First, the story is told from the perspective of Mama, whose self-kept personality is changed because of the Black Pride Movement. Mama is a very quiet and reserved person who does not speak up for herself. In the text, it says, “Who can even imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye? It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight, with my head turned in whichever way is farthest from them” (Walker 25).
