For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf

“all mercer county graduated the same nite

Cosmetology secretarial pre-college autoshop & business

all us movin from mama to what ever waz out there” 

In “graduation nite,” Shange explores a young Black woman’s emotions, experiences, and thoughts as she crosses the threshold into adulthood. She stands between girlhood and womanhood, reflecting on what was and participating in joyous celebrations about the future ahead. By the end of the night, she gives away her virginity, marking one of the many ways a girl enters womanhood and developing Shange’s coming-of-age theme.

“& poem is my thank-you for music

& i love you more than poem

more than aureliano buendia loved macondo

more than hector levoe loved himself

more than the lady loved gardenias

more than celia loves cuba or graciela loves el son

more than the flamingos shoo-do-n-doo-wah love being pretty

oyè négro

te amo mas que”

Shange’s musical references provide insight into everything about her writing: style, themes, motifs, symbolism, and more. In this poem, she uses music to explain a young woman’s cultural awakening. She falls in love with Blackness in all forms via African Diasporic music, especially the unique blends created by African-descended people in the Americas and the Caribbean.

“we gotta dance to keep from dyin”

In this poem, Shange introduces herself to the audience as a poet who wants to do more than make pictures with words. She wants to make people dance and feel. In so doing, she wants to provide a space for healing for Black women, which is another explicitly stated purpose for this work.

“[...] the stranger

we always thot it wd be

who never showed up

cuz it turns out the nature of rape has changed

we can now meet them in circles we frequent for companionship” 

The piece “latent rapists” serves as a public service announcement, letting the world know that the stories people tell women about rapists are no longer true. The rapists are not monsters; instead, they are regular men, often people the women would have considered a friend or a potential mate. Shange describes date rape here, though the term wouldn’t come into regular use until the early 90s. In addition to correcting old false narratives about rape, Shange’s poem also addresses victim blaming as another outdated perspective regarding women and rape.

“sechita had heard these things/ she moved

as if she’d known them/ the silver n high-toned laughin’/

the violins n marble floors/ sechita pushed the clingin

delta dust with painted toes/ the patch-work tent waz

poka-dotted/[...]”

While both the performers and the women in most stories remain nameless, Sechita is one of the few with a name. Her name is an allusion to an ancient Egyptian goddess of scholarship and libraries, but her role as an exotic dancer, her adornment, and her environment evoke sensual and sexual imagery. Most of the poem focuses on the illusion Sechita has to maintain in a dusty and somewhat hostile environment.

“TOUSSAINT waz a blk man a negro like my mama say

who refused to be a slave

& he spoke french

& didnt low no white man to tell him nothin

not napolean

not maximillien

not robespierre

In “toussaint,” the speaker takes the perspective of her eight-year-old self to describe how her encountering Toussaint L’Ouverture in the adult reading section of the library prompted her cultural awakening and personal empowerment in 1955 St. Louis. Toussaint symbolizes her craving for liberation from the harassment she has endured by participating in an integrated school system. She meets a real-life Toussaint, who represents internalizing the boldness and courage that the historical figure inspires in her.

“& she wanted to be a unforgettable

she wanted to be a memory

a wound to every man

arragant enough to want her”

In this piece, Shange’s nameless, seemingly femme fatale/Jezebel character reveals the complexity of women who use their sexuality to punish men. For Shange’s speaker, this image is a façade that hides some buried pain.

“i usedta live in the world

then i moved to HARLEM

& my universe is now six blocks”

The speaker in this poem laments the loss of her freedom, softness, and sweetness, which she sacrificed to survive the harshness of inner-city life. Shange’s depiction invokes intimacy and subverts the stereotype of the angry Black woman.

“three of us like a pyramid

three friends

one laugh

one music

one flowered shawl

knotted on each neck”

This piece begins and ends the same way: with an image of three women standing together in solidarity, in sisterhood, in wholeness. Here, the choreopoem’s tone begins to shift to healing and empowerment. The title, “pyramid,” likens the strength of sisterhood to the solid and long-lasting endurance of the geometrical shape, which provides the structure for many ancient wonders.

“i cdnt stand bein sorry & colored at the same time

it’s so redundant in the modern world.”

In this first entry of the “no more love poems suite,” the speaker tries to make sense of why she hid her sadness when she initially knew the relationship, which has now ended, was working for her. Through this poem, like with many others, Shange’s speaker grapples with the pressure that comes from battling the world’s perception of Black women clashing with her reality.

“[...] my love is too delicate to have thrown

back on my face.” 

By the end of the “no more love poems” suite, the tone has shifted from requiem to celebration and from death to rebirth. The speaker has undergone the stages of grief and reached acceptance. This final line becomes a song, a chant, and a dance that symbolizes healing.

“[...] i want my stuff back/

my rhythms & my voice/ open my mouth/ and let me talk ya

outta/ throwin my shit in the sewar/ this is some delicate

leg & whimsical kiss/ i gotta have to give my choice/

without you runnin off wit alla my shit/”

The speaker in this poem gives a spirited monologue that makes use of humor. She tells the listener to give her back her stuff, listing everything that makes her unique, lovable, and alive. As she lists things both abstract and concrete, the poem invokes self-love and adoration.

“i found god in myself

& i loved her/ i loved her fiercely”

In “a laying on of hands,” Shange invokes healing on a spiritual level for Black women. She calls for a laying on of hands or healing through connection, touch, and prayer.