Ruby Dee reads from "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

After 75 years, Zora Neale Hurston's novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," still resonates in the hearts and minds of contemporary audiences, but it had particular significance for black women writers and artists who were working at the time of its rediscovery. The Greene Space convened three luminaries who are all intimately connected to the novel -- Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez and Ruby Dee -- to share their stories and describe how they saw Janie and Zora's horizons on their own journeys. Zora Neale Hurston's niece Lucy Anne Hurston, author of Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, served as the evening's moderator.
Here, the legendary Ruby Dee reads her favorite excerpt from "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

[@eileeno2947]

I borrowed the audio book from my local library and listened to the whole thing in short order. It wasn’t easy to put down. She gives a masterclass in how to tell someone else’s story-all of them. As if it were the easiest thing to do, a one person play-all the characters, all the narration, all the passion of the author’s retelling of real lives of the day. It’s the sort of performance one should honor annually, like the telling of A Christmas Carol or the Easter cycle, or the reading of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th. In this case, maybe around Juneteeth. The authenticity of her re/telling is like Anna Devere Smith on steroids. No one can hold a candle to it. No one can walk away unaffected. She and this story and its telling are nothing less than a national treasure.

[@joelmaqueira4851]

May she, her husband, and Zora rest in peace.

[@JloveLamar]

Amen.

[@globalsisterzmediax7348]

Asè☝ 😊

[@TheLEEN1954]

May she R.I.P.

[@andreariecken8536]

Thank you.

[@StupidLazyStupid]

Her voice is like somebody took a pot of honey and converted it into an audio file.

[@TSquared2001]

Imagine hearing her and Lauren Bacall in conversation.

[@bronxboy47]

Goodbye, beautiful lady.

[@rochellewarren6219]

RIP my love💜

[@ayledelove9310]

I💕💕💕💕