Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" is a powerful exploration of the author's experience as an African American woman in the United States. The piece was first published in 1928 and, since then, has become an important part of literature exploring issues of race and identity. In this essay, Hurston reflects on her own journey through life, from being a young girl living with her family in Eatonville, Florida, to becoming one of the most well-known writers and anthropologists of her time. She explores how she felt growing up surrounded by racism yet still having a sense of pride in her culture and heritage.
Hurston's writing style throughout "How It Feels To Be Colored Me" is vivid and passionate, which allows readers to connect deeply with her emotions as they progress through each page. By using personal anecdotes, she expresses how it feels to be different based on skin color or ethnicity, even though everyone should have equal rights under the law regardless of whether they are black or white. Her experiences demonstrate that even though racism exists, there can also be strength within oneself despite oppression from society at large because we all possess something special inside us that no one else does—our unique identities shaped by our backgrounds, upbringing, interests, etc. This insight provides hope for those struggling against injustice while simultaneously celebrating individuality, which ultimately serves as both a source of inspiration and motivation for readers everywhere who find themselves facing similar obstacles due to their differences from mainstream culture today, just like Hurston did during much more difficult times nearly 100 years ago when this work was originally written.
In conclusion, Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels To Be Colored Me" continues to remain relevant today given its timelessness message about identity, self-love, resilience, and acceptance, among other things, which resonate strongly not only within marginalized communities but across social divides globally. This work remains a seminal piece of modern literature, focusing on themes such as power struggles between minority groups and majority populations around the world and making clear the need for continued advocacy, recognition, and human equality overall.