Migration and Identity in Pearl Cleage‘s Flyin’ West

Abstract

Identity is considered one of the main elements of life in all times. One may sacrifice one’s property for the sake of preserving their identity even if they are forced to leave their motherlands. This paper adopts a feminist approach to analyze the role of women in Flyin’ West and their endeavor to find their own identity. It also attempts to clarify the relationship of identity to African Americans’ culture, history, and land. In this play, Pearl Cleage makes clear her own experience of migration by her female point of view to reform the identity of African American people in the United States. Furthermore, she brings out how her women characters suffer twice, as being female and black that results in their movement from one place; south, to another; west. The paper also refers to the causes of migration of black females on account of certain social circumstances in order to sustain their honorable identity. Finally, it tries to find the positive outcomes of the relocation so as to achieve the aims and confirm the self-determination of Blacks in the United States.