She was a “little Black girl” who wasn’t taken seriously, but grew into one of the most important voices in literature.
I found this one thanks to Kasey Moore over at What’s on Netflix.
Trailer for “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Toni went on book tours in the 1970s with Muhammad Ali, blending literature and celebrity in a way that feels unreal today.
- She won the Pulitzer Prize for “Beloved” in 1988, then became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993—an achievement that took nearly a century of Nobel history to happen.
Watch “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”
You can watch “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” on Netflix, Prime Video, Roku, Kanopy, Hoopla, and Plex.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 95/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 97/100 (Users); 96/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders directs this one. He keeps it simple—long interviews, archival footage, and space for Morrison to speak.
Release Date: June 21, 2019
Other Unique Stuff
- Morrison said she wrote her books without thinking about a white audience at all. She wasn’t trying to explain anything, just tell the story as she saw it.
- She made a quiet but bold move in her writing: she often didn’t label white characters by race, which flips how most books are written.
- The film came out just weeks before she died in August 2019, so it ends up feeling like her final message in her own words.
Wrap Up:
“Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” feels like sitting down with one of the greatest minds of the last century. If you care about writing, history, or how stories shape the world, this is a great watch.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc