A Street in Bronzeville

A Poetry Book That Changed America

Introduction and Thesis

Novels, poems, or any kind of artistic creation give people a way of expressing emotion, imagination, transparency, and human values. It also started to open up doors for people like Gwendolyn Brooks who was not given very many opportunities because of the color of her skin. She was a prominent figure in the 20th century because of her courage to write about the oppression of blacks in a Chicago neighborhood. Gwendolyn Brooks paved the way for many African Americans who had the same dream of writing by breaking barriers no one else could at the time.

About The Author

Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 7, 1917. At the age of six weeks old, her and her family moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration. During her childhood she would often be referred to as “Gwendie”(“Gwendolyn Brooks”).

Gwendolyn attended 3 high schools throughout her years and the racial prejudice that she experienced shaped her understanding of social dynamics and would ultimately shape the writing that is out today. She had already written 75 poems by the age of 16 and began submitting her work to the Chicago Defender. In 1936, she graduated from Wilson Junior College and began writing and publishing her work(“Gwendolyn Brooks”).

Her first big break came when she wrote A Street In Bronzeville in 1945. This book was a great success and a couple years later she came out with Annie Allen. That ended up winning the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, and she was the first African American to ever win that award. After some years traveling and teaching as a creative writing instructor and writing more books, she settled back down in Chicago. On December 3, 2000, she died of cancer in her home.

About The Book

A Street In Bronzeville is one of the most universally praised poetry books. The title refers to Chicagos South Side where she grew up and stays true to experiences that shaped her. This book reveals the lives of African Americans during the mid-twentieth century and the honest reflection of how they were treated.

The group of characters in the book live in a segregated urban area surrounded by many unlovely places. Although the characters have life pretty hard, she does not idealize them. She shows each character with grace and compassion as they take what life throws at them. “This is not to suggest that there are no elements of protest within the collection. Brooks protest, however, is often muted and ironic”(“A Street In Bronzeville”). She uses characters of different professions to exemplify the range of their accomplishments. They had so much to offer and so many skills to share yet the greater society would not give them the chance to express them.

The characters surroundings showed that it was hard to not be overcome by failure, but Gwendolyn made it clear that they persevered even at the worst times. They were given no choice but to keep going even though the world wouldn’t give them a chance. Her themes continually show hope, strength, beauty, love, and perserveraince. She never wanted to give up because she knew what everyone had to offer. She lets it be known that there is a bunch of love and desire to be treated fairly for all of the mothers, daughters, fathers, brothers, sisters, and everyone that was treated unfairly.

The Legacy

Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the most influential writers to this day. She made history by being the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and being Poet Laureate of Illinois.

The way she wrote her poems captured people in a different way. She “ … goes from ballads to urban blues poems to sonnets to Chaucerian stanzas, and it is in this great mixture of forms that you see how Brooks synthesized all of her influences into her own voice”(Antunes).

She tells the story of racial injustice by conveying their small triumphs and survival. She never stopped doing what she knew was right, and she influenced many others to do the same. She was also an idol for many young African American women who were trying to find their place. “ … her mastery over language and poetic techniques and her growing dedication to social justice make her poetry an illuminating read”(Antunes).

She put deep thought into her books and it made them more than special. She used themes, irony, hidden ideas and made you think deeper than what was on the page. She knew how to capture an audience and allowed for the small minded people to open up their minds.

Works Cited

Antunes, Carolina. “A Street In Bronzeville: A Glimpse From Gwendolyn Brooks’ Window.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 30 Sept. 2015, theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/illinois/articles/a-street-in-bronzeville-a-glimpse-from-gwendolyn-brooks-window/.

“Gwendolyn Brooks.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 24 Aug. 2020, www.biography.com/writer/gwendolyn-brooks.

“A Street in Bronzeville.” Oxford Reference, www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100536850.