Toni Cade Bambara

Toni Cade Bambara (March 25, 1939-December 9, 1995) was an African-American author, social activist, and college professor.

Bambara grew up in Harlem, Manhattan, Brooklyn, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey. She attended schools in New York City and the southern United States.

She studied theater in New York City and mime in France in the 1960s. She also became interested in dance.

Ms. Bambara has taught at Rutgers University and Spelman College.

Most of her writings were created in the 1960s and 1970s. Her first collection of stories was Gorilla, My Love, published in 1972. She preferred to classify her writing as upbeat fiction. Most of the stories in Gorilla, My Love are told through a first-person point of view. The narrator (in many of the stories) is a sassy young girl who is tough, brave, and caring. One of these stories is Blues Ain't No Mockin Bird.

Ms. Bambara produced many other significant works as well. She also contributed substanially to the American Experience Documentary, Midnight Ramble: Oscar Micheaux and the Story of Race Movies.