Zora Neale Hurston - Wonderful Woman No. 110

Zora Neale Hurston - 1891–1960
American Writer, Political Activist and Anthropologist

Added to the album by Owain, A Wonderful Man

Everyone should read Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Owain

The struggle for freedom for black Americans has already become one of the repeated focus of attention for this blog; from Rosa Parks - Wonderful Woman No. 12 to Aretha Franklin - Wonderful Woman No. 66. Often, it is women who are amidst extreme oppression and suffering that rise up and allow their wonderfulness to shine. Zora Neale Hurston is another such Wonderful Woman. Born and raised in Alabama "with its vicious racists" - to quote Martin Luther King - and the constant threat of groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Zora graduated with a degree in Anthropology in 1927. She wrote many essays and short-stories, often documenting the struggle of black Americans and their quest for freedom and equality. During the 1920s, Zora was a part of a group of black writers, who called themselves 'niggerati', who produced the literary magazine Fire!! which featured a lot of pieces from writers of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement developed by the African-American community in Harlem.

Aside from the magazine and her short-stories, Zora wrote four novels. The most famous being Their Eyes Were Watching God (as previously mentioned by Owain), the book as widely regarded in the highest order both as a piece of African-American literature and as a piece of women's literature, indeed it is included in Time Magazine's Top 100 English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Her work not only shows a strong sense of what it was to live as an African-American during those fierce times but also is filled with feminist individualist ideas and the idea of strong female character.

Zora believed strongly in the cause of equality, particularly where education was concerned.

Stong, intelligent, successful and passionate - another excellent addition to our celebration of Wonderful Women.

I do not weep at the world I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.
Zora Neale Hurston