Black Lives Teach Us To Hope
Tuesday, February 8, 2022 – Toni Morrison
Mickalene Thomas, Toni Morrison – The Pieces That I Am
For this week, in honor of Black History Month, I’m sharing portraits of iconic and famous Black women whose lives have given me every reason to hope.
Peace & Blessings,
Marcie Alvis-Walker
INVOCATION
Author of Life, open a page and write our hope into being.
TONI MORRISON: IN HER OWN WORDS – A LESSON IN WRITING
A writer’s life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are its necessity… If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
What I’m interested in is writing without the gaze, without the white gaze… I never asked Tolstoy to write for me, a little colored girl in Lorain, Ohio. I never asked Joyce not to mention Catholicism or the world of Dublin. Never. And I don’t know why I should be asked to explain your life to you.
I can accept the labels because being a Black woman writer is not a shallow place but a rich place to write from. It doesn't limit my imagination; it expands it. It's richer than being a white male writer because I know more and I've experienced more.
I've spent my entire life trying to make sure the white gaze was not the dominant one in any of my books… The writing is—I’m—free from pain. It's where nobody tells me what to do; it's where my imagination is fecund and I am really at my best. Nothing matters more in the world or in my body or anywhere when I'm writing.
I know it seems like a lot. But I really only do one thing. I read books. I teach books. I write books. I think about books. It's one job.
History has always proved that books are the first plain on which certain battles are fought… As writers, what we do is remember. And to remember this world is to create it.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Collage by Mickalene Thomas featuring photography by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Director of of Toni Morrison: Pieces I Am:
I was a young photographer and Toni had just finished her fourth novel, Tar Baby. I was impressed by her confidence on the set. Toni liked my work and we became friends… and I eventually became her photographer of choice, for book jackets, publicity photos and the like. Her trust in me began way back then…
We knew early on that we wanted to incorporate my portraits of Toni and we needed a format that allowed us to see these. For this film, because I had photographed Toni over the course of 38 years, we had so many images to choose from in creating the opening.
Johanna Geilbhaus, Producer and Editor:
The opening title sequence really is special. It’s something that we’re all proud of and certainly, watching it now after Toni’s passing, it has even more meaning and emotion to it. The artwork in the collage was by the extraordinary artist Mickalene Thomas. Some of her other paintings are in the film…
In Mickalene’s opening collage, I think there are 10 portraits of Toni that Mickalene used and six of them are Timothy’s portraits. The last portrait of Toni, at the end, is also his portrait. I think the first one is her high school graduation photo, so she’s 18, and the last one she’s 87. So you see Toni emerge through eight decades. Mickalene’s collage is very moving and it encapsulates what we experience in the film. The film is gathering the pieces of Toni to tell her story.
BREATH PRAYER (FOR WRITERS)
INHALE
What we remember…
EXHALE
Creates this world.
BENEDICTION
Say Her Name: Chloe Ardella Wofford, Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, Toni Morrison – for she is worthy.
And you are worthy.
Selah
Words do have power. Toni Morrison's especially.
For she is worthy indeed. I can hear voice in my head right now. Thank you.