ABSTRACT
Within her non-fiction essays, Toni Morrison’s dissection of racist paradigms is framed by a world view that testifies to African American ancestral spirits, the centrality of transcendent community, as well as her faith in the abilities of African American intellectuals to critique and ‘civilize’ a racist society. Reading Morrison as a cultural observer-practitioner, I share her Weltanschauung which privileges community and ancestors while confronting dehumanizing cultural representations and practices.
