'This is who we are and what we must do'

 

“I tryfor a poetic language that says, This is who we are, where we have been, wherewe are. This is where we must go. And this is what we must do” – MariEvans Evans, born on July 16, 1919  not only authored poetry but also children’sliterature and plays.  And perhaps her biggest mark was made through editing countlessworks of others and serving as editor of theaward-winning Black Women Writers (1950–1980): A Critical Evaluation.
Herfirst poetry collection, Where Is All the Music? established her as aserious poetic writer, and her second, I Am a Black Woman gained herworldwide acclaim. Her definitive poem “Who Can Be Born Black” has often been anthologized.   [image error]    Evans also wrote and produced a 6-year weekly award-winning televisionprogram, “The Black Experience" in her adopted hometown of Indianapolis, where she lived for 70 years until her death in 2017.
 I Am A Black Woman resonated with thepower and beauty of Black women and set the bar for many of her fellow femaleBlack writers in the latter part of the 20th century.  
  “I am a black woman,”Evans wrote, “tall as a cypress, strong beyond all definition, still defyingplace and time and circumstance, assailed, impervious, indestructible.”