Ntozake Shange (1948-2018) was a renowned poet, novelist, playwright, and performer, best known for her Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning choreopoem
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. She wrote numerous works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, including
If I Can Cook/You Know God Can,
Wild Beauty, and
Sassafras, Cypress & Indigo.
Alexis Pauline Gumbs (Foreword) is the literary advisor to the
Ntozake Shange Revocable Trust. She is the author of
M Archive: After the End of the World and Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity and is the co-editor of
Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines. She is the founder of Brilliance Remastered, an organization that supports underrepresented scholars, artists, and organizers. Alexis has received numerous awards and recognitions such as the
Advocate Magazine's 40 under 40 and
Colorlines's 10 LGBTQ Leaders Transforming the South. Connect with her at
alexispauline.com..
Reneé L. Charlow (Afterword) was the personal assistant to
Ntozake Shange from 2014 to 2018. She is an actor, director, writer, and Theatre professor. She served as associate producer and assistant director for the production of Shange's
Lost in Language and Sound at Karamu House, Cleveland, OH, and directed
for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf at Virginia Commonwealth University and Bowie State University. Keep in touch with Renee at
mycreativespirit.net.
