On this day, in Black history, Zora Neale Hurston was born. Author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. A walking archive. The preserver of our narratives. A Black woman that made it clear that she was to be given each and every chance America tried to take from her.

She was born in the Black town of Eatonville, Florida. A town that the street grid keeps trying to swallow, but will always fail. Her beloved town would serve as the setting for many of her tales.

I remember standing in Baltimore last year, not far from where she landed at 26 y.o. as a maid and part of a theatrical group.

She had to have an emergency appendectomy and decided to stay in Baltimore. Not only did she choose to stay, but she also reenrolled in HS...

I thought about the hospital infrastructure, then and now. I thought about the atrocious stories I’ve heard about John’s Hopkins, Henrietta Lacks, and the “basement” where many Black patients went to die.

She must’ve been terrified.
She survived.

With this second chance at life...she told the HS that she was sixteen so that she could enroll, graduated in a year, and then made her way to Howard University.

Her first story “John Redding Goes to Sea," was published in HU’s literary magazine.

““I’ll stay at home this year, mamma, then I’ll go for a while, but it won’t be long. I’ll come back and make you and papa oh so happy. Do you agree, mamma dear?” https://www.narrativemagazine.com/issues/stories-week-2016-2017/story-week/john-redding-goes-sea-zora-neale-hurston

CORRECTION: Zora was born in Notasulga, Alabama in 1891 and moved to Eatonville in 1894.

Thank you, @petiteaitza. https://twitter.com/petiteaitza/status/1347188333378744324

From HU she made her way to Barnard College and became one of the most prominent figures of The Harlem Ren. & beyond. Her work includes but isn’t limited to anthropological/ethnographic research, filmmaking, playwriting, fiction, & more.

So much of her work sits on my shelves.