Helene Johnson grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, raised by her mother, grandfather, and aunts. Growing up in a household full of strong women and in the racially stratified city of Brookline shaped Johnson’s racial outlook. Johnson’s sonnet highlights the racial and societal conventions that existed between white and Black people. Every criticism against the character in Johnson’s poem is a common trope made by white society. Johnson, however, considers these racial tropes as positives of African Americans, highlighting their resiliency and strength.