Oh Toni

I’ve always been intrigued by women of a certain and specific caliber. Toni Morrison aka Chloe Wofford happens to be one of those women. Her strong presence is commanding and draws upon my interests like a curious child. Her activism through her writing and fearlessness in the way the owned her craft inspire me in so many ways.

I wish I had met her before her passing but something tells me she was already in tune with her magic and its audience. I will miss her in a way that’s seemingly unexplainable for someone who has never met her.

I read the novel Love by Toni Morrison in the early 2000s…Or at least I tried. It was a difficult read initially. I couldn’t keep up with Toni’s style of writing. I couldn’t maintain the cadence. It was like dancing to a techno beat. Needless to say, I abandoned the read and moved on to something else.

In 2019, I gave Love another go. I picked it up again via audiobook and I’m glad I did. Hearing her voice on her words gave the story even more life. I noticed that Toni’s voice had more of my attention than the story line. The way she expressed herself through the characters. The backgrounds and storylines she built and the way she carried out characterization said much more about her as the author. I liked this. The way she wrote women into the forefront of a reader’s mind made me abandon my hesitancy to be myself…at least a little bit.

Then, watching her documentaries and interviews and the way she revered herself and her work in such a way that shows her pride but without conceit. Her unapologetic stance and response to questions from the media. Her acknowledgement of not being a status quo author while simultaneously letting us know that she had no desire to be. The time she took to write, weave, and construct her novels while also maintaining the responsibilities of a Black Woman, A mother, an editor. and many other things. It all gives me pause and awe.

I know without a doubt that Toni’s fans feel the absence of her flesh being but through everything she’s written, edited, and performed, she is immortalized.