African American Author

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“When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, you're telling them that they're less than somebody else.” This quote was from Gwendolyn brooks, one of the most famous African American poets of the twentieth century. The quote means that when you tell label someone a minority then you are labeling them as a lesser form of human being compared to someone else that is not a minority. Gwendolyn Brooks was important for american history because she carved a significant spot in African american authors of the 20th century by creating poetry that would address and make aware experiences of the urban African Americans. The quote says that minorities are less the other people, the African Americans where a mistreated minority at the time. Racism ran rampant through the culture of the 20th century, and as a part of that culture was also the civil rights movement that wanted African Americans to be treated like other Americans.
Gwendolyn brooks was born the seventh of July, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas to David and Keziah Brooks. Brooks’ early life was like most other African Americans at the time, where racism and hate was a natural part of life. Around the time she was thirteen, she wrote her first poem and it was published in a children publishing company. “Eventide” was the first poem Gwendolyn Brooks ever had published. This first poem sparked something inside of her to create her love and passion as a poet. Brooks attended Hyde Park High school, a predominantly white school. When she moved to Wendell Phillips high school for a short while, until schools were integrated and she attended Englewood High School.
The beginning of Gwendolyn’s career really started when she was thirteen and wrote her first poem “Eventide,...

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...ngs in her life and saw potential for a greater future, that can be discovered in all of us.”

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
"Gwendolyn Brooks - Poetry Archive." Gwendolyn Brooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
"Gwendolyn Brooks." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
"Gwendolyn Brooks Quotes." Gwendolyn Brooks Quotes (Author of Selected Poems). N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
"Lesson Plan - Gwendolyn Brooks." Lesson Plan - Gwendolyn Brooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May
Poet: Gwendolyn Brooks - All Poems of Gwendolyn Brooks. "Poet: Gwendolyn Brooks - All Poems of Gwendolyn Brooks." Poemhunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
"Urban Rage in Bronzeville: Social Commentary in the Poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, 1945-1960."IDEALS @ Illinois:. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.

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