For Colored Girls who have considered suicide

for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf is a 1976 choreopoem by Ntozake Shange. It consists of a series of poetic monologues to be accompanied by dance movements and music. The choreopoem tells the stories of seven women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society.

The piece is a series of 20 separate poems choreographed to music that weaves interconnected stories of love, empowerment, struggle and loss into a complex representation of sisterhood. The cast consists of seven nameless African-American women only identified by the colors they are assigned. They are the lady in red, lady in orange, lady in yellow, lady in green, lady in blue, lady in brown, and lady in purple. Subjects from rape, abandonment, abortion and domestic violence are tackled.

Shange originally wrote the monologues as separate poems in 1974. Her writing style is idiosyncratic and she often uses vernacular language, unique structure, and unorthodox punctuation to emphasize syncopation.

for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf has been performed all over the world and has been translated into many languages. It has been adapted into a film, a television series, and a ballet. The choreopoem has been praised for its powerful and moving portrayal of the experiences of black women in America. It is considered to be a classic of American literature.