The Mothering Blackness
The Mothering Blackness - meaning Summary
Homecoming to Black Motherhood
Maya Angelou's the mothering blackness depicts a journey back to a maternal, protective space where the speaker seeks belonging and safety. Through repeated returns she came home, the poem anchors identity in African American lineage and communal care, contrasting smothering and warmth, and recalling figures from history such as Hagar and Sheba to suggest endurance and dignity in the face of alien or hostile landscapes. The imagery intertwines physical and emotional landscapes—the rich brown face and the warm heart—present home as a source of strength, not exile.
Read Complete AnalysesShe came home running back to the mothering blackness, deep in the smothering blackness, white tears icicle gold plains of her face. She came home running. She came down creeping here to the black arms waiting now to the warm heart waiting rime of alien dreams befrosts her rich brown face. She came down creeping. She came home blameless black yet as Hagar's daughter tall as was Sheba's daughter threats of northern winds die on the desert's face. She came home blameless.
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