Toni Morrison, Literary Icon And Legendary Humanitarian, Passes Away At 88

Nobel laureate and literary icon, Toni Morrison passed away on the 5th of August. The news was an unsurity until confirmed her publisher Alfred Knopf via a twitter post which read:

We are profoundly sad to report that Toni Morrison has died at the age of eighty-eight.

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019

-Alfred Knopf on Twitter

The reason for her passing turned out to be a small illness of some sort, as shared by her family. A spokesperson later confirmed to The New York Times, that the cause was due to complications in pneumonia.

Like most people in the world right now, Toni’s death has left the world devastated and at a great loss. She was truly one of a kind, a pioneer who fought and worked hard in educating mankind on the matters of racism and humanity.

We lost one of our greatest voices & storytellers,Holding close those touched by her being & her gift. Her work gave us power, hope & freedom. While our world shines a little less bright today, we know ‘something that is loved is never lost.

–Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris

The impact that Toni Morrison had on the world

Late Toni is best known for her Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Beloved (1988). A novel that garnered so much fame and importance that it was later made into a movie of the same name, in 1998, starring Oprah Winfrey.

Some other iconic works of Toni Morrison include the books, “Song of Solomon” and “The Bluest Eye”. The late author has written 11 novels and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Her voice on racism is undisputed in its roots. She was and still continues to live on as an irreplaceable image of honesty and courage through her works.

Toni Morrison’s best quotes, excerpts, and interviews

While the whole world mourns a great loss, it would be a dying shame to not know the mind and heart of late Toni Morrison. She had a vision for the world, one where the color of your skin and the place of your birth had nothing to do with race. The ultimate race is the human race.

 

In an interview with Essence Magazine 2015:

Toni: I would like to be remembered as trustworthy, as generous!

Interviewer: What are you talking about? You are a famous writer and you want to be remembered as trustworthy?

Toni: I realized she was thinking about my public self and I was thinking about how I wanted my family to remember me. That other thing is all well and good. But there is Toni Morrison and there is Chloe [Toni’s birth name]. Chloe is not interested in those things.

There’s only love in the end, Love is the basis of everything. And in the light of love, petty sorrows from racism, war, and crime fade into the dimness and nonexistentence. I truly believe that’s what Toni worked to share in her works throughout the years of her life. The takeaway is “LOVE”.

Rest in peace Toni!

 

Featured image courtesy: Washington Post

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