Gwendolyn Brooks grew up in a racist time; encouraging his writings to be about the life of a black man during this time period. She grew up during one of the most difficult times known as the Great Depression. Brooks was known for writing poems about racism and the life of a black American; she was often criticized for her works but also honored for showing encouragement and hope in her writings. Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1917. She grew up in a harsh and racist time along with the Great Depression. Brooks's poems were influenced by this and encouraged her to write many poems about the life of a black American. “She was inspired by the black power movement and the militancy of poets like Amiri Baraka” (Barker, 448). During the 1960s his writing underwent a racial shift in style and subject matter. Brooks learned to write such fantastic poems at the Associate of Literature and Art, Wilson Junior College, in 1936. Writing many poems known as: A Street in Bronzeville, Annie Allen, Maud Martha, Bronzeville Boys and Girls, The Bean Eaters, etc. She is a poet of contemporary writings; his poems reflect the ups and downs of black American life at this time. While I write with great encouragement and wisdom, look at everything with an open mind. His characters speak for themselves. “His works sometimes resembled a poignant social document, but his poems are works of art…” (Miller, 78). One can imagine a vivid idea of ​​Bronzeville, USA, thanks to the great details he puts into his poems. A black neighborhood in his native Chicago, which serves as the setting for many of his poems. “His characters are usually the unheroic blacks who have fled the land for the city, only to end up… middle of paper… try Magazine), 1949; Robert F. Fergusin Memorial Award (Friends of Literature) for selected poems, 1964; Anisfield-Wolf Award for To Mecca, 1968; Poet Laureate of Illinois, 1969; and Shelley Memorial Award, 1976” (Israel, page 100). He has received numerous awards for his poetry. His poems have been awarded for being uplifting, hopeful, and representing the true life of a black American. Gwendolyn Brooks is an author known for the unique poems she has written. The encouraging words he wrote in poems and the great details he put into them. Her poems were works of art and for this she was honored with numerous awards. Not many people can criticize his work, only good opinions about it. Brooks was known for writing poems about racism and the life of a black American; she was often criticized for her works but also honored for showing encouragement and hope in her writings.