Gwendolyn Brooks: An Inspirational Poet

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The year is 1924 the roaring twenties were still in swing, prohibition is still intact and a young Gwendolyn Brooks has found a love for poetry.To her poetry is a fun hobby to do in her free time. Little does she know this fun hobby of hers will lead her to become an iconic American figure. Gwendolyn Brooks was and still is a passionate inspirational writer to people across the world. She constantly thinks outside the box to not only inspire other people but inspire herself as well easily making her one of the most important literary figures of our time. Fear of failure was not installed in Brooks head as a child. Her father, David, was an aspiring Doctor who could not afford medical school so instead he became a janitor in order to take …show more content…
We are graces in any places.
I am Black and A Black forever. (7-15).
Brooks passion pours through when she writes about eliminating the term “African American” stating there is representation across the world not only just America. She makes sure to make a statement to get through the reader’s head that it is not okay to limit black people to just one area. They have been on this planet for centuries and did not just magically appear in America. So what makes it okay to dismiss their history just because a couple of white people decided they were too lazy to do their own work.
I say, proudly, MY PEOPLE!
I say, proudly, OUR PEOPLE! (17-18)
Brooks proudly calls herself black straying away from the fear people had of the word as if it is a slur belittling as the n-word. She capitalizes “MY PEOPLE” and “OUR PEOPLE” to let her community know that they have to stick together in the white man’s world. She let’s them know to celebrate their Blackness instead of being afraid of it.
I am A Black.
And I Capitalize my name.
Do not call me out of my name.
…show more content…
And you Step out.
And you go back.
And you extend again.
She intentionally focuses on the positives of the beauty that Black hair is. Pointing out how great it is in ways Black women may never have thought of before. Brooks encourages Black women to love their hair even though the world is telling them it is not beautiful. Brooks a woman ahead of her timely course knew this was not true. Proudly embracing her Afrocentric traits she was born with finally finding the self love to love her features and encouraging other women 's well.
Sisters!
Your hair is Celebration in the world! (31-32)
Brooks has a tendency to end poems with short but intense powerful messages that leaves you with a feeling of encouragement even if the poem was not direct towards you. This poem you can tell she was truly passionate about. She had struggled with racism in her early life being bullied for the darkness of her skin and the coarseness of her hair. She wrote a novel titled Maud Martha that deals with a woman who is ridiculed for her dark skin not only by whites but light skin Black people as well. This is reflective of Brooks past experiences she mostly dealt with in

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