Her Words Made Us Better: RIP Toni Morrison

The recent passing of Toni Morrison has had me reflecting about why exactly representation matters so much in literature (and all of the arts). The most frequently cited reason is that kids and adults need to see themselves and their experiences reflected in a variety of ways that are not limited by stereotypes. But representation also helps expand our empathy through deepening our understanding of the human experience and allowing us to identify with and feel for others who, on the surface, may appear to be quite different from us. In a world that so urgently needs more compassion, this is a powerful reason that representation is so important.

If you can only be tall because somebody’s on their knees, you have a serious problem.

—Toni Morrison

My mom gave me Morrison’s The Bluest Eye when I was 13 years old, and reading it was completely transformative. It was the first book I’d read about a black character by a black author. It profoundly shaped my development as a white girl previously unaware of racism and the experiences of black people in America. I could have continued to go through life with my eyes closed to other people’s struggles, but thankfully Morrison’s words touched me and sparked a lifelong quest to expand: my empathy, my understanding, my knowledge of history, and my desire to help. Seeing the world through Pecola’s eyes also expanded my awareness of gender: the fact that certain experiences are unique to girls and women by virtue of being girls and women is something that many of us understand unconsciously, automatically, but without the consciousness that allows us to see the possibility of a better way.

There seems to be such a thing as grace, such a thing as beauty, such a thing as harmony. All of which are wholly free and available to us.

—Toni Morrison

Throughout high school and college, I continued to choose to read a wide variety of authors, and in every great book there were characters I cared so deeply for, no matter how different they seemed from me. When we care about fictional characters that seem very different from us, when we strive to understand their experiences within the context of the larger society in which they live, it becomes easier to understand real people with real experiences in an unjust world. It becomes easier to see clearly our position in that world and use any privilege we may have to help deconstruct racism and sexism and stand up for justice.

“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”

—Toni Morrison

Our kids need Morrison’s words and the words of so many other writers. Because our kids need to see themselves reflected in empowering or relatable ways, yes, but also because empathy expands when it extends to characters who we otherwise may perceive as “not like us.” Literature is a powerful tool in building empathy, and empathy is what we so desperately need more of in this world. RIP Toni Morrison, your words were a gift that will live on.