Ntozake Shange, the poet, novelist and pioneering playwright whose landmark choreopoem, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf,” helped generations of women of color discover their voices, has died, the Star Tribune has learned.
Shange, 70, had suffered multiple strokes in recent years. But she had been on the mend lately, creating new work, giving readings and being feted for her work.
She died in her sleep Saturday morning in an assisted living facility in Bowie, Md., where she lived.
“Zake was a woman of extravagance and flourish, and she left quickly without suffering,” said Ifa Bayeza, her sister who also is a playwright and theater artist. “It’s a huge loss for the world. I don’t think there’s a day on the planet when there’s not a young woman who discovers herself through the words of my sister.”
