Toni+Cade+Bambara

**Toni Cade Bambara**

When one first hears about Toni Cade Bambara, some may not know what to really expect. After researching about the poet, one realizes that she comes from a rather interesting life, which ultimately affected her to become what she is today. Bambera was born in New York City in 1939, raised in during what would be later known as the Harlem Renaissance. Toni however wasn't originally born as Toni Cade Bambara, after seeing a signature on a sketchbook she found, the author legally changed her name, & from then on was known as that. The first short story she published was called “Sweet Town” in a small magazine. She continued writing, publishing her first novel in 1980, as well as working on a television documentary in 1986. Bambara was a well rounded woman, working on fiction writing, script writing, as well as essays. After living a very fufilling life, Toni found out in 1993 that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. When asked about it, she said that she knew that her intestines were blocked because she “couldn't feel my spirit guides around me...”. Toni Cade Bambara died in December of 1995. Her last works were published by her daughter, and although the writer is gone, her voice lives on in many of her works.