It was in Chicago that Brooks got her bearings for rhythm and blues this influence eventually spilled into her writing and is present in a lot of her works.

Brooks’ father was a janitor and her mother was a pianist. Similarly, culture plays a role in Brooks’ poem as well. The lack of detail of the group illustrates the idea “Brooks” was trying to create, where the group is up to the reader’s understanding. This is the only clue Brooks provides to identify the group, these lines taken from the poem “We Left School / We Lurk Late” shows the rebellious nature of these individuals. The behavior of the individuals also plays a part in identifying them. This quote shows the potential races that could be in this group. A quote from, “Critical Essay on “We Real Cool’ states, “These pool players, while almost always thought to be black males – perhaps because the poet is black and it is boys who usually hang out in pool parlors – could be white males or even females”. Brooks never mentions any race of individuals within the group. This line helps to identify how many individuals could potentially be in the poem. For instance, Brooks illustrates that there are seven individuals in the group when she writes “Seven at the Golden Shovel”.

There are several mysteries shrouded within the confines of this poem.

Gwendolyn brooks about race