Making Peace with Rainbows: Remembering Ntozake Shange

Most people have at least one author whose words at some point changed the trajectory of their lives. Think about it for a second. What book did you read in high school that had you up all night in your feelings? Ever take a women’s studies class and look down at your syllabus to find the words of a woman who looked like you staring back? What about that random trip to the used bookstore when you curled up in a corner with a tattered book of poetry that made you dig out the change in your pocket or purse so that you and those words never had to part?

This is how I was introduced to Ntozake Shange. I was rummaging through a dusty stack of books and came across a cover that stopped me in my tracks. There was a woman adorned in a headwrap staring back at me. In graffiti font, I read the words “for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow was enuf.” I looked around to see if anyone heard it, too? Did they hear that title calling me? Did they hear Ntozake say my name? Who was this woman with my story as the title of her book? Broke, with only the intention to sit and read through a book that I could then put back on the shelf, I dug into my purse and found enough change to purchase the book. One year later, I would go back into the same store and find the book/play on vinyl for $2. “Somebody almost walked off with all of my stuff and didn’t care enough to send a note home saying “I was late for my solo conversation” or “two sizes too small for my own tacky skir…