“A star dies in heaven every time you snatch away someone’s dream” – Gloria Naylor

I first became acquainted with Gloria Naylor’s work when I was a child. My mother, aunt and grandmother all loved the mini-series, The Women of Brewster Place. They skipped past any parts that were too mature for me, but I distinctly remember certain parts of the heart wrenching story of a group of residents living in low-income housing. I was far too young to understand what the movie was really about, but I remember being in awe of the beautiful women on the screen.

Years later, I learned more about Naylor herself, and I was inspired by her story. She had a sheltered childhood and finished college later in life (at the age of 31), and fell in love with literature while in college. Inspired by some of my heroines, like Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison, Naylor decided to write about the experiences of Black women, and from this came her novel, The Women of Brewster Place.

Naylor’s body of work is not very expansive but it’s key in capturing the essence of the period: her stories reflected urban experiences for Black women in the 1980s and 1990s. The works would probably come across a bit “dated” at this point, but that doesn’t minimize their importance. I intend to add some of her books to my personal collection, as I’m inspired by the bits of her writing that I’ve read so far.

That’s it for today. I hope you all have a great day, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

(Photos courtesy of IZQuotes, Washington Post, and Pinterest)