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This is a profile of author Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most celebrated — and most controversial — figures of the Harlem Renaissance, that creatively expansive era in the 1920s when “the Negro was in vogue.” S. Epatha Merkerson (“Law & Order”) narrates.
Writer, cultural anthropologist, chronicler of folk roots and
ethnic traditions, daughter of a former slave, Hurston was one of
the most celebrated - and most controversial - figures of the
Harlem Renaissance, the creatively expansive era in the 1920s when
"the Negro was in vogue." She attained unique success in all areas,
but her words and her conclusions were often mired in contention -
she was called everything from flamboyant to outrageous,
unpredictable to bodacious. She collaborated with Langston Hughes,
was criticized by Richard Wright and ultimately died a pauper's
death in total obscurity. Now considered a lioness of
African-American literature, she was resurrected by Alice Walker;
such works as Dust Tracks on a Road and Their Eyes
Were Watching God are essential reading today. S. Epatha
Merkerson ("Law & Order") narrates the program.
Discover other PBS programs honoring and celebrating Black History Month in February
2010.