Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Ntozake Shange was born Pauletta Stevens on October 18, 1948, in Trenton, New Jersey. She is commonly known by her pen name, Ntozake Shange.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born: October 18, 1948
Died: October 27, 2018
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Ntozake Shange was an American playwright, poet, writer, and performance artist. Her work often explored themes of feminism, identity, and social justice.
Early Life and Background
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Shange grew up in a family that valued the arts. Her mother, Daisy Williams Stevens, was a teacher and an artist who encouraged Ntozake's creative pursuits from an early age. Shange attended Howard University, where she began to develop her writing skills and explore her identity as a black woman.
Major Accomplishments
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Shange's most notable achievement is undoubtedly the play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which premiered in 1976. The play was a groundbreaking work of performance art that blended poetry, music, and dance to explore the experiences of black women. It ran for over three years off-Broadway and became a cultural phenomenon.
Shange's work has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Obie Awards, a Tony Award nomination, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.
Notable Works or Actions
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In addition to For Colored Girls, Shange wrote several other plays, including Sassafras, Cypress & Indigo and Betsey Brown. She was also a prolific poet and published several collections of poetry, including I Live in Music and From a Lateral Silence.
Shange's work often explored themes of identity, community, and social justice. Her writing frequently employed elements of performance art and experimental language to create immersive and engaging experiences for her audiences.
Impact and Legacy
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Ntozake Shange's impact on American theater and literature cannot be overstated. She was a pioneer in the use of non-traditional forms of storytelling and pushed boundaries around what was considered acceptable in mainstream theater. Her work has inspired generations of artists, writers, and performers.
Shange's legacy extends beyond her own work as well. She paved the way for future generations of women and people of color to take center stage in American arts and culture.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Ntozake Shange is widely quoted and remembered for her powerful and provocative writing style, which continues to resonate with audiences today. Her work often spoke directly to the experiences of marginalized communities, giving voice to those who had been silenced or overlooked.
Shange's legacy as a trailblazer in American theater and literature has cemented her place as one of the most important artists of her generation.
Quotes by Ntozake Shange
Luckily, my father and my mother liked us to talk, so they encouraged us to talk, so that the girls in my house, they're all very powerful speakers and powerful agents of their own will, as is my brother.
I had - there were three strokes, and I lost my ability to read and write and speak, and it really put me by the wayside for a number of years.
My family moved around a lot, so I don't have any friends that I had all my life, but I did have annual trips back to Queens.
When I die, I will not be guilty of having left a generation of girls behind thinking that anyone can tend to their emotional health other than themselves.
There was quite a ruckus about the seven ladies in their simple colored dresses. I was truly dumbfounded that I was, right then and there, deemed the biggest threat to black men since cotton pickin', and not all women were in my corner, either.
It still amazes and fascinates me that women of color have kept my work alive for these many generations.
I never intended to go to Broadway. I was very happy being in an Off Broadway theater and having an Off Broadway life. What it did to me is try to fit a round peg - that's me - into a whole bunch of square buildings. I just didn't fit.
My characters don't talk necessarily in a normal American way of talking. They talk a little different.
I was constantly being sought after for money. And the vitriol that came my way from many who felt threatened by controversial aspects of 'for colored girls' was often frightening.
Before I went to college, I went to the S.N.C.C. office three times a week to offer my services and catch up on my 'Liberator' magazine. The other two days, I went to the Lycee Francais to keep my French crisp. I felt comfortable in the diversity of my worlds.