Katie Cannon's students referred to her work as Katie's canon. Not only does this book represent Cannon's best work; it directly addresses canon formation and canon reformation. Cannon canonizes a literary tradition and directly addresses both oppression and liberation of African American women. Now in an expanded 25th-anniversary edition.
This study articulates the distinctive moral character of the Afro-American women's community. Beginning with a reconstructive history of the Afro-American woman's situation in America, Katie G. Cannon goes on to trace the emergence of the Black woman's literary tradition and explain its importance in expressing the moral wisdom of Black women. The life and work of Zora Neale Hurston are examined in detail for her unique contributions to the moral tradition of the Afro-American woman. A final chapter initiates a promising exchange between the works of Hurston and those of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr.