I don't know fo sho coss I will be commin by the bus...Author Cynthia (Toni) Ligon's mother, Luzetta, always had a very unique way of speaking. For Luzetta, who was raised in the South during the Great Depression, this was a language steeped in tradition, history, family, and community.While Ligon knew that her mother's grammar, syntax, and style were special, she didn't fully understand the dialect's rich context until she started studying linguistics and cultural anthropology as a college student. It was then that she realized that Luzetta's dialect was preserving a way of life long forgotten. It was emblematic of a certain time, place, and people.Now, in My Mother's Tongue: Luzetta, Ligon celebrates her mother's language and its place in her own life. The study combines personal history with contextual information to create a stirring ode to one woman's voice. Ligon infuses her work with warmth and love for her mother and the lessons she taught her. Luzetta, now eighty-five and still thriving, also has lessons to teach you about language, dialect, and cultural memory.


Cynthia (Toni) Ligon combines her academic pursuits with personal history in My Mother’s Tongue: Luzetta. Ligon grew up on the west side of Chicago in the sixties. She originally dropped out of high school but came to realize how important education is. She went back and finished both high school and receive a college degree in Social Cultural Anthropology from California State University East Bay in 2013. I have always had a desire to read, and write stories, so through education I am allowed the opportunity to do so.