Toni Cade Bambara  (1939-1995) The Lesson LINKS No links found. BIOGRAPHY Toni Cade Bambara (1939–1995)  Born in New York City, Bambara was educated there and in Italy and Paris. Early in her career she worked as an investigator for the New York State Department of Social Welfare but later devoted herself for many years to teaching and writing. One of the best representatives of a group of African American writers who emerged in the 1960s, Bambara was a consistent civil rights activist, both politically and culturally involved in African American life. Much of her writing focuses on African American women, particularly as they confront experiences that force them to new awareness. She authored several collections of short stories, including Gorilla, My Love (1972) and The Sea Birds Are Still Alive: Collected Stories (1977), and two novels, The Salt Eaters (1980) and If Blessing Comes (1987). She also edited a groundbreaking collection of African American women's writing, The Black Woman: An Anthology (1970). Deep Sightings and Rescue Missions: Fiction, Essays, and Conversations was published in 1996.