Memphis

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of domestic abuse, racism, racist violence, and child sexual abuse.

The narrative traces the lives of three generations of women in the North family who all exemplify resilience and claim an identity for themselves. They find power in creating their own lives while supporting each other. Hazel believed that racism undermined Black womanhood. The word girl “always sent Hazel into a silent rage” (104). Seeing white people calling her mother a girl, Hazel felt that “a grown and determined and brilliant woman, reduced to that colored girl in North Memphis” (104). Hazel always claimed her womanhood. She wanted people to address her as a “woman,” not as “girl.” Hazel was a strong woman who raised her daughters alone. She was pregnant when Myron was murdered. She went straight to work after his death, becoming the “first Black nurse” in the Mount Zion Baptist Hospital (62). Her experience of racism made Hazel determined to fight for equality. During the civil rights movement driven by her will to claim Black power and humanity, Hazel became a grassroots activist, making her house a hub for revolutionaries.