Remembering One of My Favorite Authors: Toni Cade Bambara
This true artist of the people died way too young
“Writing is one of the ways I participate in transformation.”~ Toni Cade Bambara
I’m always surprised when people have not heard of Toni Cade Bambara.
As soon as I got to college in 1971, I registered for all the progressive and feminist classes I could. One was Black Women in Literature.
We read The Black Woman: An Anthology, which she edited and contributed to. Through this work, she introduced me to the poetry and prose of Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovani, Paule Marshall, and Abbey Lincoln.
But it was Toni’s writing I followed.
“(M)aybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being people.”
~ Toni Cade Bambara, Raymond’s Run
Specifically, Gorilla My Love, her collection of short stories. I still reread my dog-eared copy. Because when I do, I hear the rhythm of those Harlem streets and the jazz music playing there. Told from the perspective of a spunky pre-teenage girl who dotes on her developmentally disabled brother, Raymond, and is not above sassing back to anyone…
