I am Zora Neale Hurston
From Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum · 2020
Summary
Yadina wants to write a story about her community but isn't sure her stories count as important. Meeting a young Zora Neale Hurston — the Harlem Renaissance author who celebrated Black Southern life and folklore as a treasure worth preserving — shows her that the stories of ordinary people are the most powerful ones of all.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
Zora Neale Hurston collected and shared stories from Black communities to preserve them for future generations.
- What did Zora Neale Hurston do? Why was her work important?
- What stories from your family or community do you think are worth saving?
- What is folklore? Can you think of a folktale or story passed down in your family?
- Why do stories about real people and real places matter?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: author, folklore, Harlem Renaissance, culture, anthropologist.
Try it: Interview a family member or neighbor about a memory from their past. Write three sentences retelling what they told you.