Betsey Brown

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Betsey Brown, Ntozake Shange’s second novel, is a major literary achievement. A gifted and prolific writer of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction, Shange is widely known for her critically acclaimed choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (1977). In Betsey Brown, Shange displays the same impressive capacity for developing characters from the inside out, for creating characters readers care about, that marks her choreopoem as a contemporary masterpiece. This is not to suggest that Betsey Brown is a drama masquerading as a novel. On the contrary, Shange shapes her material with the care and skill of a writer who appreciates the particular requirements and possibilities of the form.

Loosely structured and conventional in design, Betsey Brown turns on a simple, straightforward plot. The central focus of the book is the title character’s painful struggle to cope with the anxieties and frustrations associated with the transition from childhood to adolescence. Betsey is the thirteen-year-old daughter of black, middle-class parents who live in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1959. Court-ordered school integration has created new challenges and fears for black youngsters and their parents, and the Brown family, consisting of Betsey, her three siblings, her maternal grandmother, an adolescent cousin, and her parents, confront the issue boldly. Betsey and her family, however, also face internal conflicts which contribute to her confusion and her sense of alienation. Through a series of carefully crafted scenes, the author explores Betsey’s response to society and to her family. In each of the key episodes, Betsey is forced to confront a reality that enables her to learn about herself and others.

In the opening scenes of the novel, a lack of order and discipline prevails in the Brown household as the children get ready for school. Annoyed by the uproar, Betsey wonders how she could become “a great anything with all this foolishness going on around her.” Betsey’s parents and her grandmother seem powerless to impose order on this chaos. Indeed, Jane Brown seems overwhelmed by the responsibilities of managing a household with five children; ironically, Jane depends upon Betsey to help her cope with the morning madness. Jane’s mother, Vida, lacks the physical stamina to maintain order in the household, and Greer seems to enjoy the raw vitality and energy that his children display. Because the adults have failed to provide a structured, disciplined home environment, the family’s well-being is jeopardized. The danger is suggested symbolically by the frequent references to the youngest child’s habit of playing with matches. Significantly, this threat of tragedy remains menacingly in the background until Carrie, the housekeeper, takes firm control of the children and the household. Not only does she break the child of his fascination with matches, but she also assists Betsey in her personal struggle to understand her place in the family.

Although he is not a disciplinarian, Greer has a major influence on Betsey’s development of a strong sense of self. From her father, Betsey learns to appreciate her black heritage. Beating on his conga drum and chanting, “We goin to show the world/ What can be done/ Cause the Negro race is a mighty one,” Greer calls the children together for their morning drill. He asks them questions about black history and culture. Betsey’s awareness of her black cultural heritage prompts her to select a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar to recite in her English class, while many of her black classmates choose poems by white poets. Greer’s influence on Betsey also enhances her appreciation of the broad spectrum of black life, without regard for class distinctions. Consequently, Betsey enjoys blues...

(This entire section contains 1584 words.)

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and other styles of black music, and she feels at ease with schoolmates from lower-class backgrounds.

Tension arises, however, when Betsey’s mother and grandmother attempt to override Greer’s influence, to reshape her in their image of a proper, middle-class, black girl. Unable to resolve these contending forces and convinced that she cannot be herself in her home, Betsey runs away. She goes to her friend Mrs. Maureen, a beautician who lives in the ghetto neighborhood—the direct opposite of Betsey’s quiet, rather dull, middle-class neighborhood.

Mrs. Maureen plays an important role in Betsey’s attempt to sort out her feelings and to see her world clearly. Betsey must be disillusioned, stripped of her childish notions of love and her misconceptions about the world of adults. When she arrives unexpectedly at Mrs. Maureen’s apartment, hoping to be taken in, she discovers a new dimension to her friend’s life. Ironically, on one side of the French doors that separate her beauty shop from her living quarters, Mrs. Maureen enhances the beauty of black women and improves their self-esteem; on the other side of the doors, however, she operates a bordello which contributes to the moral and psychological degradation of black women. Although Betsey feels uncomfortable with the knowledge of Mrs. Maureen’s other profession, she still begs to be allowed to stay. She tells Mrs. Maureen that she has run away from home because “nobody understands me there. They all want me to be somebody else. And I’m just Betsey Brown.”

Betsey feels out of place and gradually retreats into a world of fantasy—her way of reacting to pressure from her mother and grandmother to accept their middle-class attitudes and values. For example, Jane calls Betsey’s favorite music “nasty colored music.”

The impact of imagination on Betsey’s thinking becomes evident when she tells Mrs. Maureen of her plans to work in the beauty shop until she can elope with her thirteen-year-old boyfriend. Mrs. Maureen’s first response to this plan is a hearty laugh, but she realizes the danger of allowing Betsey’s illusion to go unchallenged. To help Betsey grasp the critical differences between imagination and reality, Mrs. Maureen calls Regina to “talk some sense to this gal bout love and romance.” Betsey is surprised to see Regina living in the bordello, because she remembers the love and happiness that Regina had shared with her boyfriend when she worked for the Browns as their housekeeper. Now Regina is pregnant, however, and her boyfriend has deserted her. With the tragic example of Regina’s failed love before her eyes, Betsey begins to realize how a beautiful dream of love and hope can turn into a nightmare of pain and despair.

Betsey cannot be persuaded to return home, however, until the mother-daughter conflict, which lies at the center of her dissatisfaction with her home life, is resolved. At the root of the problem is Betsey’s need to fit in with her peers, “to be like everybody else,” and her mother’s desire to shape her daughter’s tastes and personality along different lines, making Betsey feel “like I live inside a glass cage or something.” Regina helps Betsey to understand the importance of developing her own identity. Betsey realizes that she can enrich and broaden her personality by accepting some of her mother’s values. Therefore, when Betsey leaves the beauty shop, she takes with her a new perspective on life, as a result of the sensitive guidance of Mrs. Maureen and Regina. Describing Betsey’s disillusionment, Shange writes: “Betsey felt beautiful. She felt brave. She knew it now. There was a difference between being a little girl and being a woman.”

Betsey’s education continues when Greer hires Carrie as their housekeeper after Jane leaves her family in protest because of Greer’s plan to take their children to demonstrate at a racist hotel. Carrie, a heavyset woman who wears two housedresses at the same time and keeps company with the neighborhood gardener, takes charge of the children and the management of the house. She teaches Betsey and her sisters to starch and iron clothes, sew, and cook. Under Carrie’s guidance, the children develop polite manners, and Betsey sees the formerly chaotic household transformed into a well-ordered environment. Carrie also teaches Betsey the importance of standing up for herself when a white teacher insults her by suggesting that blacks are incapable of writing poetry. Carrie appeals simply, though eloquently, to Betsey’s innate sense of pride: “There was in the kitchen a silence that bound Betsey and Carrie one to the other like blood kin. Something had been passed down.” Betsey experiences the same feeling that she had when she listened to and learned from Regina. Spiritual sisterhood is a dominant, recurring theme in Shange’s writings.

Shange skillfully combines humor and seriousness. Vida’s frequent disagreements with the housekeepers are presented in a humorous light; Carrie is described as a “woman whose hair stood on edge like there’d been a short in the electricity somewhere”; Greer, seeing his normally raucous family praying earnestly for Betsey’s safe return, remarks that they look “like a bad scene from Green Pastures.” There is also an amusing scene in which Betsey and her friends compare their developing breasts.

Betsey Brown is a remarkable novel—and not only for its generous and refreshing measure of humor. The novel also benefits greatly from the author’s impeccably accurate ear for the language of her characters. Moreover, the author’s focus on a middle-class, black family provides insight into a segment of the black community that is seldom depicted in contemporary American literature. In this fine novel, Ntozake Shange invites readers to experience the humor and pathos of a girl’s struggle to understand the mysteries of love and young womanhood.

Form and Content

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Betsey Brown tells the story of one thirteen-year-old African American girl’s struggles with adolescence. Although the issues of growing up would resonate for any young girl, Ntozake Shange wrote the novel specifically to provide reading matter for adolescent black girls—the literature that she could not find in her own youth. Betsey Brown is the oldest of five unruly children in a middle-class family. Like all adolescent girls, she feels estranged from her family: They do not understand or appreciate her. Jane, Betsey’s mother, wants her to start acting like a young lady, to stop climbing trees, to be careful around boys, to take more responsibility for her siblings and young cousin, and to have refined tastes. Betsey’s father, Greer, wants her to grow up to lead her people to freedom. He teaches the children about black history and culture, beating on his conga drum, chanting, and taking the children to march in demonstrations. Betsey’s only release from the pressures put upon her is to get away by herself, up her special tree or on one of the house’s many porches. When she is alone, watching the sunrise, Betsey is at peace.

The story moves forward in a straightforward chronological manner, and it is firmly rooted in its specific time and place. In 1959, St. Louis took its first steps toward integrating the public schools, and the Brown children are among that first cadre of children bused to formerly all-white schools. Greer has tried to prepare the children for this event by giving them a firm sense of self and of heritage. He is eager for his children to enter the fray, even as Jane fears it.

When her teacher requires each student to recite a poem, Betsey chooses one by the African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of her father’s favorites, and is ridiculed by the teacher. The white students do not seem very different from the children in her own neighborhood, but neither group knows how to cross the invisible barriers that divide them. Betsey cannot help wondering what the point of integration is, why she must ride three busses to learn the same things as before.

Feeling that everyone wants her to be something different, Betsey decides to run away. Her plan is to work in Mrs. Maureen’s beauty parlor and eventually elope with Eugene, her thirteen-year-old boyfriend. When she learns that Mrs. Maureen makes most of her money running a brothel, Betsey has to give up her childish notions about adults and love; she is on her way to becoming a woman.

Back home, things are strained between Greer and Jane. Overwhelmed by her career as a social worker and her responsibilities at home, Jane is tired and bored. She wants to rediscover the exciting woman she was when Greer courted her, yet she fears allowing her middle-class values to slip. She too runs away, and she is gone for months.

During her absence, Greer hires Carrie to run the household and manage the children. She teaches them manners; shows them how to sew, cook, and clean; and gradually brings order to the house. Carrie is an important older friend to Betsey, and she shows Betsey how to have pride and confidence in herself, to accept feelings of love, and to make decisions by herself and for herself. When Jane returns, Betsey has more understanding of her position in the family, and she is ready to stand beside Jane as a woman.

Context

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Like other novels by African American women writers of the late twentieth century, Betsey Brown is concerned with how a young black girl can find her way through a world filled with meddling parents, racist whites, and ever-expanding dreams. Unlike Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (1970) and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (1982), however, Betsey Brown gives an important look at the black middle class. Betsey lives in a large comfortable home with two loving parents. Whatever difficulties Betsey faces with growing up, and with growing up in a society struggling through integration, she is free to think about them and work through them, unhindered by hunger, crime, or violence. This setting allows Shange to focus on Betsey’s inner world, because her outer world is relatively safe.

Betsey Brown is also different from many other late twentieth century novels about adolescent girls in its depictions of men. Betsey’s father is kind, if somewhat detached; her boyfriend, Eugene, is nearly as innocent as she is; her brothers and cousin are wild but sweet children; and Mr. Jeff the gardener nurtures Carrie and his flowers. Shange is a committed feminist. Some of her other work, most notably the play for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf (1976), have drawn charges that she presents unfairly negative male characters (charges that she disputes). In this novel, men are incidental or benign. Shange chooses instead to focus on the power that women draw from one another, the wisdom that they hand down to one another. In Betsey’s world, sisterhood is powerful.

Shange has said repeatedly that she thinks of herself as a poet first and a playwright second. Betsey Brown received generally favorable reviews, but it has attracted scant serious critical analysis. Shange wrote the novel for an adolescent audience, and it is among those readers where the impact of the novel has been most strongly felt. To give young African American girls a novel about girls like them was Shange’s noble purpose, and Betsey Brown is found on secondary school suggested reading lists across the United States.

It is interesting to note that Shange continued to work with the idea of Betsey Brown long after its publication. A rhythm and blues musical based on the novel has been produced in different versions beginning in 1989. These versions have adapted the story for an adult audience.

Historical Context

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Race Relations in the 1950s

Ntozake Shange wrote Betsey Brown in 1985, but she set the story in 1959, a time reflecting her own teenage years. The historical context of the novel is crucial, especially as it addresses race relations and the desegregation of schools.

During the 1950s, African Americans lived in a largely segregated society from whites. "Jim Crow" laws, which were enforced throughout the South and other parts of the United States, mandated the separation of public spaces. Interactions between blacks and whites were mostly limited to employment roles, with blacks often working as servants or laborers. One of the most notable areas of segregation was education. Following the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, the doctrine of "separate but equal" was established for educational facilities. However, in practice, these facilities were not equal, and black students received an inferior education compared to white students, reinforcing economic disparities when they joined the workforce. In the early 1950s, several legal challenges arose against this doctrine, most prominently in the landmark case of Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This case led the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Plessy v. Ferguson unconstitutional, mandating the integration of public schools. This decision shocked many communities, particularly in the South. With the court not specifying a timeline or method for desegregation, numerous state governments resisted the ruling, igniting widespread controversy throughout the decade.

In 1954, Missouri had laws enforcing educational segregation, but it relatively quickly complied with the Supreme Court's ruling to integrate its schools. In contrast, states like Arkansas and Virginia strongly opposed the decision. One of the most infamous acts of defiance occurred in Arkansas, which Shange specifically mentions. The governor ordered the National Guard to prevent nine black students from enrolling at the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School. When these students attempted to attend the school on another day, they were met by a hostile crowd. President Eisenhower responded by federalizing the National Guard, directing them to escort the students and enforce the school's integration. Throughout the school year, the students needed protection and became global symbols of America's racial tensions.

Segregation impacted not just public education but also various aspects of both public and private life. For instance, interactions between black and white individuals were severely restricted, and any form of romantic or sexual relationship was strictly prohibited. Black men were often unjustly labeled by racist stereotypes as sexual threats, and accusations of sexual misconduct towards white women were frequently used to justify acts of vigilante violence against them. In the novel, Shange highlights the case of Emmett Till, with Jane expressing concern by drawing a comparison between Till and Charlie. Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African American from Chicago, was brutally killed by two white men in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at one of their wives. The trial, which became an international scandal, ended with an all-white, all-male jury acquitting the two men, who later admitted to the crime in an interview with a journalist.

Little Rock and the case of Emmett Till serve as powerful symbols of the racism prevalent in the 1950s, reflecting a deeply fractured and divided society. Although Betsey and her family do not face the same intense challenges of integration, these instances illustrate the significant conflict and anxiety that the idea of integration brings to the Brown household.

Race Relations in the 1980s

The social environment in the United States during the 1980s, when Shange wrote Betsey Brown, shares some parallels with the 1950s, the period in which the novel is set. Both decades were characterized by social conservatism and traditional values, contrasting sharply with the radical and turbulent changes of the intervening years. In 1980, Ronald Reagan ran for the presidency promoting "trickle-down economics" and "family values." Winning two terms, he attracted many white middle- and working-class voters, including those who had previously supported Democrats. These voters appeared to agree with Reagan's view that the social transformations of the 1960s and 1970s were too extreme. Reagan was not seen as supportive of African American interests. He opposed school busing and affirmative action, and during his tenure, some significant civil rights laws were weakened or overturned. In reaction to the sense of political disenfranchisement felt by African Americans, Jesse Jackson, a black Civil Rights leader, launched an impressive campaign to be the Democratic nominee against Reagan in 1984, elevating his status as a significant figure in American politics.

Many white individuals believed that African Americans had equal opportunities in American society; however, data from the 1980s indicates that black students were often educated in predominantly minority schools. These schools generally had poorer facilities and less funding compared to those in white neighborhoods. This gap in educational resources between black and white students was most pronounced in large cities and frequently accompanied by economic inequality. Research showed that African American students faced higher rates of suspension and were more frequently placed in special education classes, with teachers often demonstrating biased treatment. At the collegiate level, the number of black students enrolled decreased compared to the 1970s, a decade of significant progress for African Americans in higher education. During the 1980s, the percentage of black students in college and professional schools fell from 9.4% to 8.6%. In response to the era's generally conservative atmosphere, college students protested against curricula centered on “dead white men,” leading many institutions to revise their canons to include works by more women, people of color, and non-Western authors.

Racial tensions were also high across the nation in other areas. The Ku Klux Klan experienced a revival, and David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Klan, was elected to the Louisiana legislature. Numerous racial incidents occurred on college campuses, alongside violent racial conflicts nationwide, such as the 1980 Miami riots following the acquittal of four white police officers involved in the death of a black man. These events and conditions influenced Shange’s views on racial integration and race relations as she evolved as a writer.

Literary Style

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Point of View

The novel is told through an omniscient third-person narrator, who is not involved in the events but has insight into the characters' private thoughts and emotions. Although the story centers on Betsey and her growth, the narrator delves into the viewpoints of various characters throughout the narrative. For instance, the novel begins with a depiction of Betsey's home that unveils her personal reflections and experiences of living there. However, this focus on Betsey's perspective changes when her mother, Jane, wakes up. The narrator conveys Jane's inner thoughts, stating, “Something had to be done with all of these children.” The chapter concludes with grandmother Vida's private reflections on the family and neighborhood. Thus, this chapter, like the novel as a whole, transitions between different viewpoints, often highlighting the generational contrasts among the Brown women. Shange's primary focus is on Betsey and her internal world, yet this portrayal is deepened by the differing perspectives of those who have a significant influence on her.

Setting

Shange's depiction of the setting is a crucial element of Betsey Brown’s style. The sometimes joyful, sometimes chaotic atmosphere of the Brown household, along with the ambiance of Betsey’s close-knit middle-class black neighborhood and the broader St. Louis area, all play pivotal roles in Betsey’s emotional and moral journey toward adulthood. The novel begins by describing the Browns’ spacious Victorian house, which “allowed for innumerable perspectives of the sun.” Betsey occasionally gazes out from the house or the tree in its yard toward the city beyond during moments when she seeks to comprehend her metaphorical place in the world.

The story takes place in late 1950s St. Louis, a period marked by significant racial tensions due to the Civil Rights Movement and, more specifically, the national discourse on school integration. Betsey's personal journey with racial identity is heavily influenced by the broader political issues affecting the nation, as highlighted by Shange’s mentions of the Little Rock, Arkansas, integration crisis. However, Betsey is somewhat insulated from the conflict by her family and community. Mr. Robinson, the owner of the local soda shop, embodies the tight-knit connections of their affluent black neighborhood. He takes pride in Betsey and the other bused children, while also watching over them. As Betsey grapples with her growing independence and the external pressures of integration, she must learn to define herself beyond the confines of her family and neighborhood. Her identity journey is most vividly depicted in St. Louis when she runs away to Mrs. Maureen’s beauty parlor in a poorer black area of town. Rebelling against being the only black girl at a desegregated school, she seeks to escape the comforts of home and neighborhood to forge a deeper connection with black culture and other women. After gaining personal affirmation and a makeover, she wanders the city, feeling like its “queen,” even as the police are concerned for her safety as a young black girl.

Structure

The narrative of Betsey Brown unfolds in an episodic manner. Shange focuses on events not to build toward a dramatic climax and resolution, but to capture the rhythm and essence of everyday life. The story doesn't dwell on any single conflict for too long—whether it's Betsey’s ambivalence about her relationship with Eugene Boyd, the tensions in Jane and Greer’s marriage, or the family challenges linked to integration and racism. Occasionally, incidents that seem to hint at disaster—such as Allard’s fire-setting tendencies or Charlie’s interest in white girls—do not escalate into major crises. Instead, the narrative shifts from one finely detailed conflict to another before any issue becomes overwhelming, illustrating how the various events of Betsey’s thirteenth year create a mosaic of questions about her self-identity. The novel’s structure aims for subtle character growth rather than dramatic peaks and conclusions. By the end of the novel, there is a sense of resolution as a more mature Betsey is portrayed as someone “surely going to have her way,” yet her path—fraught with the challenges of racism, femininity, and sexuality—remains largely undefined.

Compare and Contrast

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1950s: During this decade, a series of court rulings focus on ensuring equal educational opportunities for African Americans. The pivotal 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case sets the stage for the civil rights movements aimed at integration in the 1960s. Despite these rulings, many local areas resist, leading to slow progress in desegregation by the end of the decade.

1980s: Reflecting the socially conservative climate of the Reagan administration, civil rights policies face criticism and, in some instances, are rolled back. The National Urban League criticizes the president's approach to racial equality, calling it “deplorable.”

Today: African Americans are among President Clinton's most dedicated supporters. Nevertheless, affirmative action and school busing for integration are being challenged in state courts nationwide. Many school districts are discontinuing busing as a means of integration. Legal disputes are also arising at universities that factor race into admissions and financial aid decisions.

1950s: In a post-war era marked by conservatism and economic growth, numerous American women adopt traditional roles as supportive wives and mothers, with limited access to economic or public power.

1980s: A backlash emerges against the feminist movements of the 1970s that aimed to redefine traditional gender roles. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) fails in 1982, and the anti-abortion movement gains momentum. Despite this, the number of women entering the workforce, including in high-paying and influential roles, continues to rise.

Today: Sixty-one percent of married women are employed, a significant increase from twenty-three percent in 1950. In a thriving economy, more women pursue flexible work options such as job sharing and telecommuting to balance their careers with motherhood.

1950s: American culture begins to hint at a shift toward sexual liberation, which will fully emerge in the following decade. Playboy magazine, launched in 1953, makes pornography more socially acceptable. Alfred Kinsey's study, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, reveals that a quarter of married American women report having extramarital affairs, a statistic that shocks many.

1980s: The emphasis on “family values” and the advent of the AIDS crisis contribute to a resurgence of sexual conservatism in American society. In May 1985, the government establishes a special commission to explore new methods for controlling pornography. The commission, surprisingly aligning with some feminists, concludes that pornography promotes violence and degrades women. As a result, many convenience stores temporarily halt the sale of soft porn like Playboy.

Today: Although the panic surrounding the AIDS epidemic has diminished, there is still a strong focus on monogamy. A movement among young people seeks to restore the value of virginity, with some youth activists identifying as "born-again virgins." Teen pregnancy rates have declined. However, the Internet has made pornography more accessible than ever before.

1950s: Half of all employed white individuals identify as middle class, while only one-fifth of employed African Americans describe themselves this way.

1980s: Economic stagnation and inflation disproportionately impact black families, but many conservative social commentators attribute the weakening of African-American family structures to social issues rather than economic challenges.

Today: In a thriving economy, blacks have experienced modest progress compared to whites. One scholar estimates that between 25% and 33% of African Americans can now be classified as securely middle-class.

1950s: Rock 'n' roll sweeps across America. Elvis Presley, who draws inspiration from lesser-known black blues musicians, becomes the unrivaled king of rock 'n' roll. With the rise of rock music, black artists like Fats Domino and Chuck Berry begin to attract a white "crossover" audience. However, parents worry that this new influence might entice and corrupt their children.

1980s: Hip-hop culture, which began as an underground black urban music style in the 1970s, enters the mainstream. In 1982, the rap group Run DMC achieves a major "crossover" success with a song featuring heavy metal samples. By 1985, the music industry introduces parental advisory labels for albums with "blatant explicit lyric content." Tipper Gore establishes the Parents Music Resource Center to alert parents about sex and violence in popular music.

Today: In 1998, rap becomes the best-selling music genre in America, surpassing both rock and country for the first time. Some rappers strive to change the genre's image by promoting "positive messages" in their music. Over 70% of hip-hop albums are purchased by white consumers.

Media Adaptations

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Betsey Brown was transformed into an operetta for the stage by Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in 1986.

Bibliography and Further Reading

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Sources

Anderlini, Serena, “An Interview with Ntozake Shange,” in Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Vol. 6, No. 1, Fall 1991, pp. 85–97.

Brown, Elizabeth, “Ntozake Shange,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 38, edited by Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris, Gale, 1985, pp. 240–50.

Glastonbury, Marion, “Of the Fathers,” in New Statesman, October 4, 1985.

Schindehette, Susan, Review in Saturday Review, May/June 1985.

Tate, Claudia, Black Women Writers at Work, Continuum, 1993.

Williams, Sherley Anne, “Roots of Privilege: New Black Fiction,” in Ms., June 1985, pp. 69–72.

Further Reading

Carroll, Rebecca, ed., with a foreword by Ntozake Shange, Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America, Crown, 1997. This compilation of nonfiction first-person stories about the lives of fifteen girls, aged eleven to eighteen from across the United States, explores themes of self-esteem, identity, and personal values, painting a genuine picture of modern black girlhood.

Haskins, Jim, Separate but Not Equal: The Dream and the Struggle, Scholastic, 1997. Beginning with the 1957 Little Rock crisis, Haskins delves into the history of segregated education, providing comprehensive context for the school integration challenges of the 1950s–1970s and discussing key cases in the struggle. This book is specifically intended for high-school readers.

Landry, Bart, The New Black Middle Class, University of California Press, 1987. In this detailed academic analysis, sociologist Landry examines the emergence of an elite and privileged class of African Americans since the Civil Rights Movement, offering insights into the social hierarchy within the black community in America.

Shange, Ntozake, See No Evil: Prefaces, Essays and Accounts, 1976–1983, Momo’s Press, 1984. This collection of Shange’s nonfiction works reveals her perspectives on the state of black arts during her early career and sheds light on the inspirations behind her more avant-garde creations.

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