A WOMAN NAMED ZORA

The PBS-TV drama ZORA IS MY NAME made its debut in 1989 and was released for sale to the general public on VHS in 2003. The televised play stands as a prime example of how the Harlem Renaissance’s potent creative energies both defined its own era and still transcends it to inform the art and culture of modern times.
ZORA IS MY NAME was written by and stars Ruby Dee, a veteran actress of stage, screen, and decades of social activism. The teleplay captures in all its blazing wit, humor, and genius, the extraordinary personality of Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960). By tracing the growth and development of that singular personality from its early days in the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida, to its maturation in Washington, D.C., and New York City, the film presents a glittering collage of folklore, history, music, dance, fashion, and high literary culture. With friends like the poet Langston Hughes, artist Aaron Douglas, novelist Jessie Redmon Fauset, writer and artist Richard Bruce Nugent, and the brilliant playwright Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston was part of the core of talent that made the Harlem Renaissance possible.
Actress Ruby Dee has long been applauded for her uncanny ability to portray with precision the psychological and spiritual nuances of her characters. In ZORA IS MY NAME, she is in superb form. So are the other members of a stellar cast that includes such phenomenal performers as: Louis Gossett, Jr., the late Flip Wilson, Lynn Whitfield, and Paula Kelly.
Of particular interest at the end of ZORA IS MY NAME is an interview with Louise Thompson Patterson (1901-1999). A notable figure of the Harlem Renaissance in her own right, Patterson worked for a time as a typist for Hurston and Langston Hughes. She was also once married to the aforementioned Wallace Thurman.

Aberjhani
Co-author of ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
And author I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY