Mollie Godfrey's Brave Humanism, re: Black Women Writers

From Hopkins to Hansberry. That is, from Pauline Hopkins, Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston, Ann Petry and Gwendolyn Brooks to Lorraine Hansberry. That's the thought I had when I finished Mollie Godfrey's Brave Humanism: Black Women Rewriting the Human in the Age of Jane Crow. 

Her book deals with generations of Black women ahead of those contemporary figures I usually focus on in my classes. So reading Godfrey's work provided me with all kinds of useful insight and information. 

On the subject of the history of Black women writer courses, I've done some blogging (2020), podcasting (2022), and short video work (2024). Godfrey's book gives me reason to go revise and extend my ideas. 

Just as important, Godfrey is pushing us forward by placing more writing by Black women into historical context, and framing the discussion in ways that links past writing to contemporary developments.