#tonimorrisonquote

-Toni Morrison

Today would have been Toni Morrison’s 89th birthday. I choose to celebrate her life today because her influence on me as a writer, thinker, and human being cannot be underestimated. Her mastery of the written word showed me that the distinction between prose and poetry can be blurred to profound effect. The themes contained in her work also challenge me to step outside my limited worldview. She reminds me that true compassion must be actively cultivated; it cannot happen passively. She reminds me of my responsibility to the world, to use my platform and my privilege to help free others. And, more viscerally, her writing is moving and evocative. Her novels rip my heart asunder while still motivating me to keep my pen to paper. She was a phenomenological and poetic lion, daring to unapologetically write about race, gender, and raw human experience, all while refusing to bend to the white gaze. If you haven’t yet, celebrate today by reading Morrison’s words. There are few better ways to spend a day.

Black History All Year 2021 . . Morrison was the author of eleven novels, including The Bluest Eye (1973), the story of a little black girl’s quest for identity and acceptance in a world that privileged whiteness; Sula (1973), which celebrates friendship between women and the complexity of black womanhood; Song of Solomon (1977), which follows its male protagonist, Milkman Dead, on his quest for cultural heritage; and Tar Baby (1981), which explores a love affair between a couple from radically different socio-economic backgrounds. Morrison’s early works received critical acclaim, including National Book Awards nominations and the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Song of Solomon. . . In 2000, Angelou received the Presidential Medal of the Arts and in 2008, she received the Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal. On February 15, 2011, President Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House Ceremony.  The Medal is the nation’s highest civilian honor. Morrison’s fifth novel, Beloved (1987), a haunting story about the atrocities of slavery and a black slave mother’s effort to protect her children against its dehumanizing effect through infanticide, won the Pulitzer Prize and was instrumental in her receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. In 2006, Beloved, made into a movie starring Oprah Winfrey, was named the greatest work of American fiction in the past twenty five years by The New York Times Book Review. In her subsequent novels Jazz (1992), Paradise (1998), and Love (2003), Morrison continued her exploration of such themes as friendships between women, quest for personal identity, the complexity of the black community, a celebration of African American history and culture, and the importance of love, the dominant theme in her work, to the human experience. . . #tonimorrison #tonimorrisonquote #ohiostate #ohio #akronohio #akron #promiseschool #beloved #pulitzerprize #nobelpeaceprize #nobelprize #oprahwinfrey #morrison #civilrights #womeninhistory #womeninhistorymonth (at Peace Gardens) https://www.instagram.com/p/CO0Pl5uJL9u/?igshid=j8vuvbpbwgjl

Thu, February 25, 2021 “If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” —Toni Morrison ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ #tonimorrison #tonimorrisonquote #tonimorrisonquotes #blackauthor #educational #educationalpost #learnsomethingneweveryday #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #bhm #monriatitans https://www.instagram.com/p/CLuQqRSjGcF/?igshid=fnlmt85rqju1

Word of advice from the late Toni Morrison, “You want to fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” Today is a great day for somebody to hear this. Tag them below if you think they need it. 🚨Canvas and paper prints available through the link in my bio🚨. Shout out to @seanmgilder for his part in the dope #BLM mural in downtown Birmingham, Al. And thanks so much for @pbw_poet for becoming a new collector of my art! . . #tonimorrison #tonimorrisonquote #songofsolomon #blackauthors #blackauthorsmatter #blackartmatters #quotesdaily #quotesaboutlife #galleryart #alphakappaalpha #artistofinstagram #artwork🎨 https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUbBfmJUN9/?igshid=83glb025fup3

New inspiration! #tonimorrisson #writersofinstagram #tonimorrisonquote #write #spilledink https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTnjIDJZ7i/?igshid=78jyvwu84lwt

You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down. #tonimorrisonquote #wordsofwisdom #wednesdaywisdom https://www.instagram.com/p/CBR7Exppjqv/?igshid=bv9hdyh1drln