Oh My God! She Did it Again.

The Honorable Toni Morrison

I just finished reading Toni Morrison's new novel titled Home, and all that I can say is that she did it again. I mean "She really did it again." As I was reading the novel and now, as I am writing this post, my heart is truly on fire. I can't say how much I love the writings of Toni Morrison. I really believe that her writings portray her most private thoughts, and I really want to meet and get to know Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison, Toni Morrison, Toni Morrison........There is something GREAT and SPECIAL about this lady, mother, writer, professor, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner etc.

With the reading of Home, I am convinced that Toni thinks a lot about the importance of taking a figurative and/or literal journey, women doing some type of self discovery, and she definitely thinks about why people are the way that they are.

In Home, the main characters Frank and his sister, Ycidra, known as Cee, both took a journey that had to be taken for their growth. The only way to really understand themselves and their lives was by taking a life journey. Their stories portray that through the pain comes peace. I know that sounds like another cliche, but when we think about our lives, some of the growth that we are forced to have comes from pain. I remember when my father died, through that pain, I learned that I could stand on my own and take care of myself, and I did not need my safety net, my dad, as much as I thought that I did. I was ready to fly on my own!

When Ycindra, known as Cee, was coming back from her life journey, Ethel Fordham, a lady "which soothed and strengthened her the most" told her over a plate of oven hot biscuits and a jar of blackberry jam:

"See what I mean? Look to yourself. You Free. Nothing and nobody is obliged to save you but you. Seed your own land. You young and a woman and there's serious limitation in both, but you a person too. Don't let Lenore or some trifling boyfriend and certainly no devil doctor decide who you are. That's slavery. Somewhere inside you is that free person I'm talking about. Locate her and let her do some good in the world."

Ethel and other women in the novel serve as guides for Cee to self-discovery.

If you saw the movie Beloved or read the book, the above quote reminded me of the speech that was given by Baby Suggs when she tries to teach her followers to love their voices, bodies, and minds.

Baby Suggs from Beloved.

Home is only 102 pages and in these few pages, the reader learns a lot about Frank and Cee. Toni develops these characters and many other secondary characters in 102 pages, and it's a lot of information but not too much. It's just enough too make the reader really understand why the characters do what they do. Developing characters through different characters' perspectives is something that Toni does in quite a few of her novels, and it really makes us love and identify with the characters, even the bad guys. Frank, one of the main characters in Home, did something really bad in the Korean war, but with the way that Toni explains why he did what he did, it just doesn't seem that bad.

Everything, and I mean everything, in Toni Morrison's books are important. She is a master with words and every word should be read with care. Read and reread Home and think and grow.

I am only scratching the surface of what is in the 102 pages of Toni Morrison's Home! You've got to experience Home for yourself.......

On a side note, Toni is 81 years old and is still doing what she loves. We must find what we love to do, and do it until we die.

"Suck All the Marrow Out of Life!" (Henry David Thoreau)

I had to add Stephanie Mills singing Home, because that's what's on my mind.

"Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death"

"I don't even know,
where my life would be,
if you hadn't shown,
shown your love for me,
broke the chains,
chains that were binding me.
Gave me liberty.
SET ME FREE
(Myron Butler and Levi)

The song, Set Me Free, whose words are above, is a song that I listen to often. Everytime that I hear it, I am reminded how great it feels when the chains are broken. LIBERTY BABY!!!

One 4th of July, I sent Valarie Boyd, the author of  Wrapped in Rainbows, (You must read "Wrapped in Rainbows." It is about the life of Zora Neale Hurston and so much more. Every single word is a joy to read.) an email message to wish her well. When she responded to my note, she wrote:

"Freedom is a beautiful thing, ain't it."

All I could think about after I read her words were: "Yes it is."

In Beloved, by Toni Morrison, the main character's story is based on a real life story.

Sethe is a former slave, and one day, Sethe saw a White Man approaching the place where she currently lived. She had some type of slip of the mind, and she thought that the man who was approaching was her former slave owner coming to take her and her children back into bondage. Sethe grabbed her children and tried to kill them, because she would have rathered for her children to be dead than not be free.

For a woman to want to kill her children, rather than have them put in bondage, must mean that freedom should be cherished and/or being in bondage is HELL.

A few weeks ago, we had a pep rally at school, and the children were so FREE. They were dancing, singing, shouting, leaping. They SEEM to not have a care in the world. We all know that teenagers have many things going on in their lives; however, at that pep rally, they really were a perfect picture of freedom.

Often, if not everyday, I think that it is important for us to exam if there are any CHAINS that are holding us back. If we are not doing some sho' nuff good belly aching laughing, doing some real hard dancing, experiencing peace and joy that passes all understanding, or doing whatever else that makes us feels free every now and then; then we must ask ourselves WHY NOT!

Are we worrying about the thoughts of others? Are we worried about what others might think if we take the road less travel? Are we afraid to get out of the box that we have been in forever? Are we guarding our hearts expecting pain and hurt?

Remember: "Whom the SON sets free, is truly free indeed!"