Includes work by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, RIta Dove, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Zora Neale Hurston, Octavia Butler, Audre Lord, Terry McMillan,

Contents by Genreix -- Contents by Theme xii -- Map: Writers and Geography xix -- An Era of Resistance: 19th-Century African American Women's Writings / Jacqueline Jones Royster xxviii -- Colonial and Antebellum Periods 1 -- / Lucy Terry Prince (1730-1821) -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- From The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee (1836) / Jarena Lee (1783-1849) -- / Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) -- / Nancy Gardner (1799c.-1856) -- / Maria W. Stewart (1803-1879) -- From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) / Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) -- From A Brand Plucked from the Fire (1879) / Julia A. Foote (1823-1900) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- From Our Nig (1859) / Harriet E. Wilson (1828-1863) -- From The Bondwoman's Narrative (circa 1850s) / Hannah Crafts -- Reconstruction Period 41 -- From Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years as a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (1868) / Elizabeth Keckley (1824c.-1907) -- From The Journals of Charlotte L. Forten Grimke / Charlotte L. Forten Grimke (1837-1914) -- / Gertrude Bustill Mossell (1855-1948) -- From A Voice From the South (1892) / Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964) -- From Contending Forces (1900) / Pauline E. Hopkins (1859-1930) -- From A Red Record (1895) / Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) -- Expansion, Experimentation, and Excellence: 20th- and 21st-Century African American Women's Writings 86 -- Harlem Renaissance 90 -- / Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson (1875-1935) -- From Caroling Dusk -- / Angelina Weld Grimke (1880-1958) -- / Anne Spencer (1882-1975) -- / Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961) -- From Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1929) -- / Mary Effie Lee Newsome (1885-1979) -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- / Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) -- / Nella Larsen (1891-1964) -- / Marita Bonner (1899-1971) -- / Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902-1981) -- / Helene Johnson (1907-1995) -- 1940s-1959 180 -- / Dorothy West (1907-1998) -- / Ann Petry (1908-1997) -- / Margaret Walker (1915-1998) -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- Literature of the Black Aesthetic Movement: The 1960s and 1970s -- From Like One of the Family: Conversations from a Domestic's Life (1956) / Alice Childress (1920-1994) -- / Naomi Long Madgett (b. 1923) -- / Maya Angelou (b. 1928) -- From Soul Clap Hands and Sing (1961) / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- From Guests in the Promised Land (1968) / Kristin Hunter (b. 1931) -- / Sonia Sanchez (b. 1934) -- / June Jordan (1936-2002) -- / Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) -- / Carolyn M. Rodgers (b. 1945) -- Literature of the Second Renaissance: The 1970s and 1980s 262 -- / Toni Morrison (b. 1931) -- / Adrienne Kennedy (b. 1931) -- / Audre Lorde (1934-1992) -- / Lucille Clifton (b. 1936) -- / Jayne Cortez (b. 1936) -- From Gorilla, My Love (1972) / Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) -- From A Piece of Mine (1984) / J. California Cooper (b. 1940) -- / BarbaraNeely (b. 1941) -- From In Love and Trouble (1973) / Alice Walker (b. 1944) -- / Pat Parker (1944-1989) -- / Sherley Anne Williams (1944-1999) -- / Marilyn Nelson Waniek (b. 1946) -- From Abeng (1984) / Michelle Cliff (b. 1946) -- / Octavia Butler (b. 1947) -- From for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf (1977) / Ntozake Shange (b. 1948) -- / Jewelle Gomez (b. 1948) -- / Alexis De Veaux (b. 1948) -- From The Women of Brewster Place (1982) / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- From Mama Day (1988) -- From Long Distance Life (1989) / Marita Golden (b. 1950) -- From Thomas and Beulah (1986) / Rita Dove (b. 1952) -- / Jewell Parker Rhodes (b. 1954) -- Literature from the New Millennium: The 1990s to the 21st Century 351 -- / Tina McElroy Ansa (b. 1949) -- From Your Blues Ain't Like Mine (1992) / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- From Brothers and Sisters (1994) -- From What You Owe Me (2001) -- From Daughters of the Dust (1999) / Julie Dash (b. 1952) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- From Every Good-Bye Ain't Gone (1991) / Itabari Njeri (b. 1954) -- / Thylias Moss (b. 1954) -- / Jessica Care Moore (b. 1972) -- From I Wish I Had a Red Dress (2001) / Pearl Cleage (b. 1948) -- From Leaving Atlanta (2002) / Tayari Jones (b. 1970) -- Black Feminist Criticism and Womanist Theories 398 -- / Barbara Christian -- / Karla Holloway -- / Audre Lorde -- / Deborah McDowell -- From "Doers of the Word": Theorizing African-American Women Speakers and Writers in the Antebellum North (1995) / Carla Peterson -- Poetry -- / Lucy Terry Prince (1730-1821) -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson (1875-1935) -- / Angelina Weld Grimke (1880-1958) -- / Anne Spencer (1882-1975) -- / Mary Effie Lee Newsome (1885-1979) -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- / Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902-1981) -- / Helene Johnson (1907-1995) -- / Margaret Walker (1915-1998) -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- / Naomi Long Madgett (b. 1923) -- / Maya Angelou (b. 1928) -- / Sonia Sanchez (b. 1934) -- / Audre Lorde (1934-1992) -- / June Jordan (1936-2002) -- / Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) -- / Carolyn M. Rodgers (b. 1945) -- / Lucille Clifton (b. 1936) -- / Jayne Cortez (b. 1936) -- / Pat Parker (1944-1989) -- / Sherley Anne Williams (1944-1999) -- / Marilyn Nelson Waniek (b. 1946) -- / Ntozake Shange (b. 1948) -- / Alexis De Veaux (b. 1948) -- / Rita Dove (b. 1952) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- / Thylias Moss (b. 1954) -- / Jessica Care Moore (b. 1972) -- Short Stories, Excerpts from Novels -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Harriet E. Wilson (1828-1863) -- / Hannah Crafts -- / Pauline E. Hopkins (1859-1930) -- / Angelina Weld Grimke (1880-1958) -- / Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961) -- / Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) -- / Dorothy West (1907-1998) -- / Ann Petry (1908-1997) -- / Alice Childress (1920-1994) -- / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- / Kristin Hunter (b. 1931) -- / Toni Morrison (b. 1931) -- / Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) -- / J. California Cooper (b. 1940) -- / BarbaraNeely (b. 1941) -- / Alice Walker (b. 1944) -- / Michelle Cliff (b. 1946) -- / Octavia Butler (b. 1947) -- / Pearl Cleage (b. 1948) -- / Jewelle Gomez (b. 1948) -- / Tina McElroy Ansa (b. 1949) -- / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- / Marita Golden (b. 1950) -- / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- / Terry McMillan (b. 1951) -- / Julie Dash (b. 1952) -- / Jewell Parker Rhodes (b. 1954) -- / Tayari Jones (b. 1970) -- Autobiographies, Memoirs, Slave Narratives, and Letters -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- / Jarena Lee (1783-1849) -- / Nancy Gardner Prince (1799c.-1856) -- / Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) -- / Julia A. Foote (1823-1900) -- / Elizabeth Keckley (1824c.-1907) -- / Charlotte L. Forten Grimke (1837-1914) -- / Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson (1875-1935) -- / Itabari Njeri (b. 1954) -- Speeches, Essays, and Pamphlets -- / Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) -- / Maria W. Stewart (1803-1879) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Gertrude Bustill Mossell (1855-1948) -- / Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964) -- / Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) -- / Marita Bonner (1899-1971) -- Complete Texts -- Plays -- Novel -- Black Feminist Criticism and Womanist Theories -- / Barbara Christian -- / Karla Holloway -- / Audre Lorde -- / Deborah McDowell -- / Carla Peterson -- African Heritage and Global Issues -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902-1981) -- / Margaret Walker (1915-1998) -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- / June Jordan (1936-2002) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- Art and the Imagination -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- / Gertrude Bustill Mossell (1855-1948) -- / Dorothy West (1907-1998) -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- / Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) -- / Marilyn Nelson Waniek (b. 1946) -- / Jessica Care Moore (b. 1972) -- Bodies, Beauty, and Blackness -- / Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) -- / Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) -- / Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902-1981) -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- / Lucille Clifton (b. 1936) -- / Jessica Care Moore (b. 1972) -- Childhood and Coming of Age -- / Toni Morrison (b. 1931) -- / Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- From Leaving Atlanta (2002) / Tayari Jones (b. 1970) -- Citizenship, Laws, and Rights -- From A Red Record (1895) / Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- / Adrienne Kennedy (b. 1931) -- / June Jordan (1936-2002) -- / Octavia Butler (b. 1947) -- / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- Civil Rights and Black Power -- / June Jordan (1936-2002) -- / Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) -- / Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) -- / Alice Walker (b. 1944) -- From The Women of Brewster Place (1982) / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- From Your Blues Ain't Like Mine (1992) / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- / Jessica Care Moore (b. 1972) -- Class, Privilege, and Poverty -- / Dorothy West (1907-1998) -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- / Alice Childress (1920-1994) -- / Kristin Hunter (b. 1931) -- From I Wish I Had a Red Dress (2001) / "Pearl Cleage (b. 1948) -- / Jewell Parker Rhodes (b. 1954) -- Education and the Life of the Mind -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- From Soul Clap Hands and Sing (1961) / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- / Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) -- From Mama Day (1988) / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- Family and Community -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- J. California Cooper (b. 1940) -- / Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) -- / Octavia Butler (b. 1947) -- From Your Blues Ain't Like Mine (1992) / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- / Rita Dove (b. 1952) -- / Jewell Parker Rhodes (b. 1954) -- Folklore and Oral Traditions -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- From Abeng (1984) / Michelle Cliff (b. 1946) -- From Mama Day (1988) / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- From Daughters of the Dust (1999) / Julie Dash (b. 1952) -- Heroes and Heroines -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- From What You Owe Me (2001) / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- Husbands and Lovers -- / Angelina Weld Grimke (1880-1958) -- / Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961) -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- / Ann Petry (1908-1997) -- / Tina McElroy Ansa (b. 1949) -- / Jewell Parker Rhodes (b. 1954) -- / Terry McMillan (b. 1951) -- From Every Good-By Ain't Gone (1991) / Itabari Njeri (b. 1954) -- Interracial Friendship/Conflicts -- / Lucy Terry Prince (1730-1821) -- From Behind the Scenes: or Thirty Years as a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (1868) / Elizabeth Keckley (1824c.-1907) -- From Soul Clap Hands and Sing (1961) / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- / Toni Morrison (b. 1931) -- / Pat Parker (1944-1989) -- From Your Blues Ain't Like Mine (1992) / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- From What You Owe Me (2001) -- Language and Literacy -- / Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) -- / Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) -- From Brothers and Sisters (1994) / Bebe Moore Campbell (b. 1950) -- From What You Owe Me (2001) -- / Harryette Mullen (b. 1953) -- Mothers, Daughters, Fathers, Sons -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- / Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) -- / Adrienne Kennedy (b. 1931) -- / Marilyn Nelson Waniek (b. 1946) -- From The Women of Brewster Place (1982) / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- / Terry McMillan (b. 1951) -- From Leaving Atlanta (2002) / Tayari Jones (b. 1970) -- Musical Rhythms and Metaphors -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- / Sonia Sanchez (b. 1934) -- / Sherley Anne Williams (1944-1999) -- / Jewelle Gomez (b. 1948) -- Passing and Identity Performances -- / Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961) -- From Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1929) -- / Nella Larsen (1891-1964) -- Physical Health/Growing Old -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- / Dorothy West (1907-1998) -- / Naomi Long Madgett (b. 1923) -- / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- / J. California Cooper (b. 1940) -- / Terry McMillan (b. 1951) -- / Rita Dove (b. 1952) -- Regional Emphases -- / Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) -- / Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) -- / Helene Johnson (1907-1995) -- From Abeng (1984) / Michelle Cliff (b. 1946) -- From Mama Day (1988) / Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) -- From Daughters of the Dust (1999) / Julie Dash (b. 1952) -- Religious Institutions and Spiritual Beliefs -- / Jarena Lee (1783-1849) -- From A Brand Plucked from the Fire (1879) / Julie A. Foote (1823-1900) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Helene Johnson (1907-1995) -- / Carolyn M. Rodgers (b. 1945) -- / Thylias Moss (b. 1954) -- Rewriting Histories -- / Lucy Terry Prince (1730-1821) -- / Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) -- / Elizabeth Keckley (1824c.-1907) -- / Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) -- / Tayari Jones (b. 1970) -- Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women -- / Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) -- / Ann Petry (1908-1997) -- From Soul Clap Hands and Sing (1961) / Paule Marshall (b. 1929) -- / Jayne Cortez (b. 1936) -- From for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf (1977) / Ntozake Shange (b. 1948) -- Slavery and Its Aftermath of Racial Violence -- / Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Hannah Crafts -- / Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) -- / Angelina Weld Grimke (1880-1958) -- Vampires, Aliens, and Sorcerers -- From Abeng (1984) / Michelle Cliff (b. 1946) -- / Octavia Butler (b. 1947) -- Women's Rights and the Women's Movement -- / Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) -- / Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) -- / Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964) -- / Georgia Douglas Johnson (1886-1966) -- / Marita Bonner (1899-1971) -- / Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) -- / Maya Angelou (b. 1928) -- From I Wish I Had a Red Dress (2001) / Pearl Cleage (b. 1948).