However, in recent years, Shange has aimed her
work at the youth of the nation. In 2002 she pub-
lished the picture-book biography of Muhammad
Ali, Float Like a Butterfly, with pastel and gouache
illustrations by Edel Rodriguez, and in 2003 she
published a novel aimed at adolescents, Daddy
Says. In 2004, she published a lavishly illustrated
children’s book, Ellington Is Not a Street.
These recent works define in simple but beauti-
ful language what a hero is. However, in keeping
with her poetics, her recent works also reiterate
the author’s insistence on the voice’s singularity
and her commitment to social and political activ-
ism. They characteristically celebrate cultural and
gendered identity: what it means to be a daughter,
mother, sister in the 21st century. Her works retain
their wit, their lyricism, and a sense of urgency in
their message. Shange’s influence is evident in the
works of contemporary novelists, playwrights, and
spoken-word artists, including Elizabeth Alexan-
der, Hottentot Venus, and SUZAN-LORI PARKS, who
won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for her play To p -
dog/Underdog. Shange’s influence will be evident
for generations to come.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Benston, Kimberly. Performing Blackness: Enactments
of African-American Modernism. New York: Rout-
ledge Press, 2000.
Betsko, Kathleen, and Rachel Koenig, eds. Interviews
with Contemporary Women Playwrights. New
York: Beech Tree Books, 1987.
Lester, Neal A. Ntozake Shange: A Critical Study of the
Plays. New York: Garland, 1995.
Hermine Pinson
Shante, Roxanne (Lolita Shante)
(1969– )
Widely hailed as the “foremother” of feminist/
womanist rap, Roxanne Shante is credited with
launching the infamous “Roxanne” battles with
“Roxanne’s Revenge,” her response to UTFO’s
“Roxanne, Roxanne.” Born Lolita Shante Gooden
in Queens, New York, on November 9, 1969, she
began her career in hip-hop at age 14. Partnering
with old-school rap’s producer, Marly Marl, Rox-
anne Shante’s witty reply track challenged the male
rappers of UTFO and affirmed the sexual auton-
omy of women. To the advances of the Kangol Kid,
Dr. Ice, and The Educated Rapper—the M.C.s of
UTFO—she retorts, “Me the Rox give up the box?
/ So you can brag about it for the next six blocks
/ Where’s the beef you guys can’t deal it / I need
a man that can make me feel it.” Her release sold
more than 250,000 copies and spawned more than
100 answerback records. Working closely with
lyricist and solo artist Big Daddy Kane, Shante fol-
lowed up “Roxanne’s Revenge” with the hit singles
“Have a Nice Day” and “Go On Girl.” Her first
album further affirmed her feminist / womanist
identity with the track “Independent Woman.”
At age 25 Gooden left the music world to re-
turn to school, earning a degree in psychology.
Roxanne Shante launched a new career, opening
a thriving clinical practice in New York City. She
also emerged as a public speaker and hip-hop icon,
often making public appearances to discuss what
she terms “hip-hop herstory.”BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abdullah, Melina. “Hip Hop as Political Expression:
Potentialities for the Power of Voice in Urban
America.” In From Dusk Til Dawn: Black Urban
America, edited by Lewis Randolph and Gayle
Tate, 465–474. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005.
Melina AbdullahShepherd, Reginald (1963– )
Born in New York City, the son of Goldburn
Shepherd and Blanche Althea Berry, Shepherd
was raised in tenements and housing projects in
the Bronx in extreme poverty. After his mother’s
death when he was 15, Shepherd was sent to live
with relatives in Macon, Georgia. This experience
proved devastating to the teenage Shepherd, who,
by age 13, was fully aware of his developing gay
identity, which made him liminal in the Bronx, as
opposed to his new southern black community,
where he was “probed and stared at and taunted,”
like a Martian (“This Place/Displace”). Shepherd,460 Shante, Roxanne