I smiled at the thought of millions typing queries into the search engine under Hurston’s watchful gaze. She was the ultimate questioning woman so it’s only fitting.
I hope many will click on her image and discover or reconnect with this fierce, independent and accomplished writer. Today she’s best known for her novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” but she also published three other novels; dozens of short stories, essays and articles; three plays; three musical compositions; eight folk tales and anthropological works; and an autobiography.
Alice Walker observed: “After reading Hurston, anyone coming to the United States would know exactly where to go to find the remains of the culture that kept Southern black people going through centuries of white oppression. They could find what was left of the music; they could find what was left of the speech; they could find what was left of the dancing; they could find what was left of the work, the people’s relationship to the earth and to animals; they could find what was left of the orchards, the gardens, and the fields; they could find what was left of the prayer.”
Indeed, Hurston’s greatest gift as a writer was her ear. She reveled in the subtleties of black vernacular speech, passionately capturing the cadence and timbre of voices. Her deep listening and nuanced retelling made her stories—fiction and otherwise—vivid, distinctive, matchless.
“And Janie, maybe it wasn’t much, but Ah done de best Ah kin by you. Ah raked and scraped and bought dis lil piece uh land so you wouldn’t have to stay in de white folks’ yard and tuck you’ head befo’ other chillun at school. Dat was all right when you was little. But when you got big enough to understand things, Ah wanted you to look upon yo’self. Ah don’t want yo’ feathers always crumpled by folks throwin’ up things in yo’ face. And Ah can’t die easy thinking maybe de menfoks white or black is makin’ a spit cup outa you; Have some sympathy fuh me. Put me down easy, Janie, Ah’m a cracked plate.”
– From “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
Beyond local idiom, figurative speech and lore, Hurston mastered the studied but no less colorful tone of her omniscient third-person narrator.
She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!
– From “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
Hurston also made art of the telling and retelling of her own story in her own voice.
I was glad when somebody told me, “You may go and collect Negro folk-lore.” In a way it would not be a new experience for me. When I pitched headforemost into the world I landed in the crib of negroism. From the earliest rocking of my cradle, I had known about the capers Brer Rabbit is apt to cut and what the Squinch Owl says from the house top. But it was fitting me like a tight chemise. I couldn’t see it for wearing it. It was only when I was off in college, away from my native surroundings, that I could see myself like somebody else and stand off and look at my garment. Then I had to have the spy-glass of Anthropology to look through at that.
– From “Mules and Men”
In this way, Hurston was a multilingual marvel and the undoubted literary foremother of so many I admire today. Women who celebrate and give voice to people on the margins without condescension, apology or pity. Women who write artfully and heartfully. Women who speak their own names.
Happy Birthday, Zora!
Maya Recommends
A Google search for Zora Neale Hurston will yield 6,840,000 results in 0.47 seconds. Below I offer a few personally curated selections for your information and pleasure. My faves:
- Soul of a Black Woman. This great overview of Hurston’s legacy by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., appeared in the New York Times in February of 1978 and was reprinted as the afterword to Zora Neale Hurston: The Complete Stories.
- Zora Hurston, 57, Writer, Is Dead. This New York Times Obituary includes a 1942 photo of Hurston and offers insight into how news of her death was covered at the time.
For the last ten years or so I’ve written out New Year’s Intentions. They are like resolutions but a bit less, well, resolute.
They represent goals and habits that I’m interested in building a life on, but they lack the forcefulness and grit the term “resolutions” implies. The usual suspects health, fitness and family make regular appearances on the annual lists as do career and financial goals. Results, to put it mildly, vary.
One area that’s been a particular struggle is the eating well intention. After years of study, I now have a very sophisticated food philosophy. Problem is, I’m entirely ill-equipped to live it.
Like an increasing number of American women, I’m concerned about the origin of most of the food I eat and the industrial food complex that delivers it. I believe that buying and preparing fresh, healthy and sustainably sourced food is among the most powerful ways I can have a positive moral, political and environmental impact in the world. I also have no clue as to how to do this on a consistent basis. Continue reading “This Year I Learn to Cook”
For the last ten years or so I’ve written out New Year’s Intentions. They are like resolutions but a bit less, well, resolute.
They represent goals and habits that I’m interested in building a life on, but they lack the forcefulness and grit the term “resolutions” implies. The usual suspects health, fitness and family make regular appearances on the annual lists as do career and financial goals. Results, to put it mildly, vary.
One area that’s been a particular struggle is the eating well intention. After years of study, I now have a very sophisticated food philosophy. Problem is, I’m entirely ill-equipped to live it.
Like an increasing number of American women, I’m concerned about the origin of most of the food I eat and the industrial food complex that delivers it. I believe that buying and preparing fresh, healthy and sustainably sourced food is among the most powerful ways I can have a positive moral, political and environmental impact in the world. I also have no clue as to how to do this on a consistent basis. Continue reading “This Year I Learn to Cook”
Dear Maya,
Well, there is a lot I could use some advice on but right now my thoughts have been centered around one thing that scares the crap out of me—becoming a mother. I know, I know, women have been doing this for years…but I haven’t.
How did you know you were ready? Did you know? I am very active in my community and career and don’t know how being a mom will impact these. I am so scared of giving up everything I am working towards…
I also struggle a little with my husband and not feeling a little resentful that he doesn’t wrestle with these questions as we head down the road to becoming parents. He is very laid back and seems to think I am worrying too much. I am afraid he might be right (even though I won’t admit it to him). 😉
The Baby Worrier
Continue reading “Ready or Not: Having a Baby Means Making Some Tough Calls”
Dear Maya,
Well, there is a lot I could use some advice on but right now my thoughts have been centered around one thing that scares the crap out of me—becoming a mother. I know, I know, women have been doing this for years…but I haven’t.
How did you know you were ready? Did you know? I am very active in my community and career and don’t know how being a mom will impact these. I am so scared of giving up everything I am working towards…
I also struggle a little with my husband and not feeling a little resentful that he doesn’t wrestle with these questions as we head down the road to becoming parents. He is very laid back and seems to think I am worrying too much. I am afraid he might be right (even though I won’t admit it to him). 😉
The Baby Worrier
Continue reading “Ready or Not: Having a Baby Means Making Some Tough Calls”
But when the lists get long, as they inevitably do, another variety of list is required—The Kill List. It is the more forceful cousin of the Not-To-Do List touted by productivity experts. It is a catalog of time-sucking, energy-draining, useless activity that you no longer choose to engage in.
But when the lists get long, as they inevitably do, another variety of list is required—The Kill List. It is the more forceful cousin of the Not-To-Do List touted by productivity experts. It is a catalog of time-sucking, energy-draining, useless activity that you no longer choose to engage in.
Mellody Hobson is much more than just the new wife of billionaire filmmaker George Lucas. The Ariel Investments president serves on several boards, including the Starbucks Corp., and is chairwoman of the board of directors for DreamWorks Animation SKG. She’s also a regular on-air financial contributor for outlets like the Tom Joyner Morning Show and CBS. As if that were not enough, she and Lucas also welcomed their first child, Everest, who was born by surrogate in August. Who says we can’t have it all?
Umm, I do. And I bet Hobson would agree.
Sure, she was the youngest of six children raised by a single mom in inner-city Chicago and went on to Princeton and great professional success. But despite what the magazine quips, I suspect Hobson would contest the outdated notion that she now “has it all.”
She has a lot, certainly. But she could probably name without hesitation several things that she doesn’t have—sleep for one. (Her work ethic and fitness routine are legendary. Pre-baby she swam at 4 a.m. and ran right after.)
I would love to hear her discuss the trade-offs, sacrifices and compromises that underpin her success. After all, one of her signature expressions is “Don’t major in the minor.” Clearly, she sets priorities, focuses energy and executes over the long haul.
She touts patient, value-oriented investments for a living. Her voice soothed viewers of Good Morning America, Nightline and World News Tonight years ago when Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and fools spoke of putting money in gold or mattresses. “Don’t just do something, stand there,” she counseled, urging viewers to stay the course.
Hobson has bolstered financial literacy among women and minorities. She’s offered excellent, practical money management advice in media outlets from morning shows to magazines. Her investment firm even sponsors a public school on the south side of Chicago and teaches sound investment principles to its students and community.
She’s an inspiration and worthy of all the positive media coverage she receives. But make no mistake, she’s not a role model because she has it all. Rather, she’s a wise woman because she defined her own specific vision of success and worked it.
Mellody, if you’re out there, let me interview you!
Recommended Reading
The Unsinkable Mellody Hobson (via CNN Money)
Mellody Hobson: Champion of Financial Literacy (via Chicago Tribune)
Mellody Hobson & Jeffrey Katzenberg (Via CNN Money)
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
That was it.
I wanted to commemorate the holiday but oddly found myself without much to say. So I posted one photo, one quote, no commentary and called it a day.
At the time, I considered the post to be a quick prompt for readers’ self-reflection. Today it feels more like a cop out, evidence of my own refusal to really grapple with MLK Day and the unfinished work of its namesake. Continue reading “MLK Day Redux”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
That was it.
I wanted to commemorate the holiday but oddly found myself without much to say. So I posted one photo, one quote, no commentary and called it a day.
At the time, I considered the post to be a quick prompt for readers’ self-reflection. Today it feels more like a cop out, evidence of my own refusal to really grapple with MLK Day and the unfinished work of its namesake. Continue reading “MLK Day Redux”
Dear Maya,
I am a first time homeowner and currently having some major renovations done. I need to figure out paint options for all rooms including the bathrooms and kitchen, and I have to pick out fixtures, tiles and flooring!!
I generally love all things about home decor and renovations, but I am feeling overwhelmed because I have to make all these decisions so fast! I am familiar with the website Houzz and I can spend hours searching that website! But I need to start making some decisions ASAP. Any advice on how to get this project under control?
I want to make sure I have considered all options and I feel a bit overwhelmed making these “big” decisions!
Continue reading “Ask Maya: I’m Overwhelmed by Renovation Decisions. Help!”
Dear Maya,
I am a first time homeowner and currently having some major renovations done. I need to figure out paint options for all rooms including the bathrooms and kitchen, and I have to pick out fixtures, tiles and flooring!!
I generally love all things about home decor and renovations, but I am feeling overwhelmed because I have to make all these decisions so fast! I am familiar with the website Houzz and I can spend hours searching that website! But I need to start making some decisions ASAP. Any advice on how to get this project under control?
I want to make sure I have considered all options and I feel a bit overwhelmed making these “big” decisions!
Continue reading “Ask Maya: I’m Overwhelmed by Renovation Decisions. Help!”
Stanford Graduate School of Business marketing professor Jennifer Aaker devised this idea and explains it in a Lean In lecture. Aaker argues that finding such multipliers will help us stay ambitious, feel less rushed and accomplish more.
If you want to be a great athlete and a great partner, go for a run with your partner, she says. If you want to volunteer at a nonprofit and be a good friend, take a friend volunteering with you.
Aaker calls such productivity pairings “doubles.” Extending the baseball analogy, a home run would be a single activity that advances four or more of your goals.
“When we feel overwhelmed, we often feel like we need to sacrifice goals,” she says. “But instead of giving up on certain goals, might we rethink time and use these tools to become more time affluent?”
The spirit of her advice is spot-on, if not the flimsy examples. Women make the best use of their time when they know what they want and then consciously choose high-impact activities that serve those goals. Continue reading “Are You Hitting Enough Home Runs in Your Life?”
Stanford Graduate School of Business marketing professor Jennifer Aaker devised this idea and explains it in a Lean In lecture. Aaker argues that finding such multipliers will help us stay ambitious, feel less rushed and accomplish more.
If you want to be a great athlete and a great partner, go for a run with your partner, she says. If you want to volunteer at a nonprofit and be a good friend, take a friend volunteering with you.
Aaker calls such productivity pairings “doubles.” Extending the baseball analogy, a home run would be a single activity that advances four or more of your goals.
“When we feel overwhelmed, we often feel like we need to sacrifice goals,” she says. “But instead of giving up on certain goals, might we rethink time and use these tools to become more time affluent?”
The spirit of her advice is spot-on, if not the flimsy examples. Women make the best use of their time when they know what they want and then consciously choose high-impact activities that serve those goals. Continue reading “Are You Hitting Enough Home Runs in Your Life?”
I’m a website junky. I launched my first site, MayaPayne.com, in 2002 using a primitive website builder that produced a hideous site with nearly illegible type set against a stock photograph of a sunset. I was thrilled.
Buying that little piece of cyberspace was addictive. Over the next ten years I would go on to develop a dozen websites and buy twice as many domain names. At one point, I co-founded a short-lived local site that trafficked in celebrity gossip and party pics.
But despite my enthusiasm for the web’s publishing power, I was very slow to grasp its community-building potential. It’s hilarious now to recall some of the conversations we had at work. We hotly and repeatedly debated the question, “If we link to other sites, why would anyone come to ours?”
We were content curators and news aggregators, but didn’t know it. We were bloggers without the software and the sharing.
I’m a website junky. I launched my first site, MayaPayne.com, in 2002 using a primitive website builder that produced a hideous site with nearly illegible type set against a stock photograph of a sunset. I was thrilled.
Buying that little piece of cyberspace was addictive. Over the next ten years I would go on to develop a dozen websites and buy twice as many domain names. At one point, I co-founded a short-lived local site that trafficked in celebrity gossip and party pics.
But despite my enthusiasm for the web’s publishing power, I was very slow to grasp its community-building potential. It’s hilarious now to recall some of the conversations we had at work. We hotly and repeatedly debated the question, “If we link to other sites, why would anyone come to ours?”
We were content curators and news aggregators, but didn’t know it. We were bloggers without the software and the sharing.
