Introduction In the US, the concept of blackness is the key idea that defines the social, political, and cultural position of African-Americans, both in past and present periods of history. The Street is a novel that depicts the life of Lutie Johnson, a single mother with an 8-year old son, who lives in Harlem on 116th street. The life of the main character is full of challenges that include relationships with African-American men, financial issues, and hard work. While the history and cognition of African-American women were subjected to race and gender oppression, the literary works were created to represent their struggles and address the barriers that limited their lives. This essay aims to discover the black identity of African-American women living in the 1940s based on the image of Lutie as well as the methods used by the author, including personification, naturalism, and setting. Exploring Blackness in the Novel The negation of humanity of African-Americans leads to various difficulties that ruin their relationships and lives. In The Street , Lutie, an ordinary woman, was married to her beloved man, but the financial issues caused by a low-paid job as well as other hardships affected negatively their interaction. When her husband cheated, the main character preferred to leave and raise her son independently. At the same time, she remains committed to the idea of the American Dream proposed by one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. He stated that everyone who works hard can achieve success, yet the story by Petry shows that African-Americans have many barriers on their paths. The author of the novel uses the method of personification to represent the feelings and emotions of her characters. While The Street is narrated via the voices of different persons, the one of Lutie is dominant. Accordingly, it seems to be appropriate to choose her image to associate with personification points. For example, the wind is depicted as a human being: “the wind grabbed their hats, pried their scarves from around their necks, stuck its fingers inside their coat collars, blew their coats away from their bodies” (3). The fingers of the wind that touch people are related to the connection with negative emotions since some discomfort is evident. More to the point, Petry states that the wind “discourages the people walking along the street”, which helps the readers to assimilate with Lutie and her experience. The method of personification reflects everyday American discourse, reproducing and rooting racial ideology since it inevitably materializes both public and individual consciousness. Along with the family issues, Luthier faces racism and sexism, which stem from not only White but predominantly African-American men. Jones, a navy veteran, becomes obsessed with Lutie, while he also has a girlfriend, min, whom he rejects believing that she not physically attractive. Smith, the bandleader of Junto, is also interested in sexual contact with the main character, promising false advantages. This sexual competition increases the novel’s tension. Personification allows the author to show that her street could be any street in the city: “the snow … sent people scurrying homeward, so that the street was soon deserted, empty, and quiet” (182). In this case, personification does not break away from the real denotation but adds an essential chara