Zora Neale Hurston
Vixens and baby mommas were not the representations of black femininity and womanhood that authors like Zora Neale Hurston, Angela Davis and Audre Lorde imagined for the future. These authors were literary pioneers who paid the price for setting their rebellious spirits free on paper.
One of the great female authors to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston paved the way for future authors like Toni Morrison, Gayle Jones and Alice Walker. Hurston’s writings were greatly influenced by her anthropological research. What set Hurston apart from her peers, who often referenced the racial issues of the time period, was her idealist belief that black sovereignty was a matter of refocusing one’s mindset. This ideology inevitably led to her downfall.
Five of Hurston’s letters are a part of the Kinsey Collection, a national touring exhibit of a private collection of rare art, artifacts, books, documents and manuscripts.
