Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Brooks: Biography

 

Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kanas on June 7th, 1917 to her parents Keziah and David Brooks. When Gwendolyn was about 6 weeks old, her and her family relocated to Chicago, Illinois; this was due to the Great Migration. Also, her two siblings were born here as well. She attended three high schools: Hyde Park High School; Wendell Phillips Academy High School; and Englewood High School. By 1936, Gwendolyn had graduated from Wilson Junior college and had already started to write and publish her works.

 

Gwendolyn was born into an era of severe racism and black oppression. She was often antagonized by her own race due to the fact that she was lighter than the average black person and had a good grade of hair; they figured she was mixed with white. Brooks never really played with the other kids but instead enjoyed the hobby of writing.

 

In the year of 1939, she was happily married to the love of her life: a man named Henry L. Blakeley. Unfortunately, she was widowed in 1996, but she continued to inspire others throughout the world through her poetic works and books. They had two children whose names were Nora Blakeley and Henry L. Blakeley lll. On December 3 of the year 2000, Ms. Gwendolyn Brooks was sickened with cancer and passed away.