Gwendolyn Brooks, “A Street in Bronzeville” (1945) Analysis
Gwendolyn Brooks was a contemporary American Poet who grew up in Bronzeville a neighborhood in Chicago. Gwendonyl was born on June 07, 1917. According to Contemporary Black Biography, Brooks wrote mostly on topics such as “wrought and insightful portraits of everyday black life, in which she illuminated racism, poverty, interracial prejudice, and personal alienation.” (Contemporary Black Biography, “Gwendolyn Brooks”). She wrote about her everyday life and included it in a poetry titled “A Street in Bronzeville,” which she published by Harper & Brothers in New York on August 18, 1945. In this poem, she included details about her experiences living in Bronzeville and what it was like. In the poem she mentioned many things about her experiences with racism and poverty in black neighborhoods.
According to Hudson H. Randolph and Pinkerton Jan, they state in “Bronzeville,” “After World War I, Chicago became a destination for African Americans arriving from the South, and the city’s black population grew from 45,000 in 1910 to 235,000 in 1930.”(Hudson & Pinkerton p. 2). This not only shows that Bronzeville was a mostly black neighborhood, but it also gives reliability to Brooks's poem.
About the Author:
Brooks lived in Bronzeville from childhood until her death, and she dealt with many experiences. Contemporary Black Bibliography stated, “Her path to becoming a writer started with her parents, who early on encouraged her in reading and writing.” (Contemporary Black Biography, “Gwendolyn Brooks”). Her parents were a big influence as her dad read her stories, and her mother encouraged her to write often. Brook's parents helped her get into a writing career and helped her with what to write about. Brooks also accomplished many things, such as winning the Pulitzer Prize. “Brooks received even greater honors with her next book of poetry, Annie Allen, which won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize, marking the first time the award had been bestowed upon a black writer.” (Contemporary Black Biography, “Gwendolyn Brooks”). She acknowledged the fact that she was prospering as a black writer and helped other black writers and mentored them. She grew up with many struggles such as mentioned on “Gwendolyn Brooks: Poet from Chicago” as it states, “Although Gwendolyn had ambitions to attend college, there was no money for tuition. She continued to write three poems a day, and although the pay was small, to publish poetry, stories, and essays in the Chicago Defender. Seventy-five of her poems appeared in the newspaper’s “Lights and Shadows” column.” (“Gwendolyn Brooks: Poet from Chicago”) This shows an example of a struggle she dealt with growing up.
Works Cited:
Hudson, Randolph, and Jan Pinkerton. “Bronzeville.” Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance, Facts On File, 2004. Bloom’s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=95547&itemid=WE54&articleId=42231.
Published by Adam Morgan Adam Morgan is the founding editor of the Chicago Review of Books and the Southern Review of Books. His essays and criticism have appeared in The Paris Review, et al. “‘A Street in Bronzeville’ by Gwendolyn Brooks.” Chicago Literary Archive, 21 May 2021, chicagoliteraryarchive.org/2021/01/21/a-street-in-bronzeville-by-gwendolyn-brooks/. Accessed 19 June 2024.
“Gwendolyn Brooks.” Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 28, Gale, 2001. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606001760/BIC?u=lincclin_ecc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=e0fe4197. Accessed 19 June 2024.
“Gwendolyn Brooks: Poet from Chicago.” Gwendolyn Brooks: Poet from Chicago, Feb. 2003, pp. 8–31. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=cbf050f5–618f-3982-a462–203c088cc09b.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “The movies are popular in the Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, April 1941.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1941. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-8174-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99