Will Gwendolyn Brooks Legacy last Forever?

By Hassan Mohammed

Gwendolyn Brooks was an African American poet who was known for how she revolutionized literature in her unique style. Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American female to captivate the Pulitzer prize, solidifying her reputation as a world renowned poet. She also was regarded as a unique commodity amongst the mass population, and was perceived as a prominent household name. Brooks would then proliferate her teachings, by obtaining a disciple with the name of Angela Jackson.Who would go on and assimilate the physical and mental mindset of Gwendolyn Brooks, transitioning to write a bibliography that elucidates Gwendolyn Brooks life experiences through adolescence, the peak of her career, and what her literature signified to others. Angela Jackson would name this bibliography “ A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun. The Life and Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks”. Gwendolyn Brooks poetry impacted many individuals of African American descent, her leadership in the Black Arts Movement secured her position on the wall of respect with other remarkable figures that altered history for future African Americans. The wall of respect symbolized the heroism that represented characters and motions such as Gwendolyn Brooks and the Black Power Movement which was “ a political movement to achieve a form of Black Power and the many philosophies it contains”. The importance that Gwendolyn Brooks and the Movement she supported, showed that her legacy will always be remembered. Angela Jackson states “Gwendolyn continued to keep her promise to be a voice and speaking eyes and to prevail against the editors of the world.”(Jackson 165)Gwendolyn Brooks ideals will disperse her legacy to individuals  and will manufacture it to progress for generations.  Her identity, accolades, and literature are what Gwendolyn Brooks achieved to secure her legacy. Ones who conversed about Gwendolyn Brooks work say that her past exertion is what defined her actions.The representation she produced drew a path for others in the future, who trusted her judgement, beliefs and the picture she painted with her words. Those individuals will be the ones who will distribute her beliefs as if they were their own, and continue to spread her message, constructing her legacy to last forever. Thus, Brooks impact on one's who believed her body of work will carry on “The Life and Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks.”

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