This March marked the 75th anniversary of the very important book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Last night I had the pleasure of attending a discussion hosted by WNYC about the book led by Hurston’s niece, Lucy Anne Hurston and featured Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez and Ruby Dee. Lucy Anne Hurston astutely opened the discussion explaining she was sitting at the feet of the masters. The audience included musicians, poets, writers and, well, Gloria Steinem–they all gasped together the power of this moment.

I have written about Their Eyes before. I read this book when I was in high school and found it important then–I reread it as an adult and ...