Something to Watch: “The Pieces I Am”

I have cried three times when a celebrity passed away. Once in the 90s, when Tupac Shakur was killed. Again in 2016, with the passing of Prince. And then in 2019, when the world lost Toni Morrison. For those who miss her, the documentary The Pieces I Am, which portrays the journey that was Morrison’s literary life, is a gift.

The film takes a look at Morrison’s origins — from her sharecropper grandparents in Alabama all the way through her own upbringing in Lorain, Ohio — and how she progressed from editor to teacher to author. We hear from a number of writers, artists, and activists who share stories of the way Morrison’s work impacted their life. In each of their voices, you can hear reverence and awe.

Oprah Winfrey describes her experience reading Morrison’s novel Beloved for the first time. She called both the fire department and the police department in Morrison’s home town to get her phone number because she was so desperate to speak with Morrison after she’d finished it. Winfrey went on to say of Morrison’s work, “It comforts you and consoles you and allows you to understand that pain is okay… She reaches into the depths of pain and shows, through pain, all the myriad ways we can come to love.”

At the very end of the film, Philadelphia poet Sonia Sanchez shares her thoughts on Morrison’s impact and legacy. “There are some people who are put here to really make us know ourselves, so we can walk upright, finally, as human beings.”

You can watch The Pieces I Am on Hulu, or at the film’s website, swat.ink/morrison-film.