for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf is inspired by events in Shange's life. Shange admitted publicly to having attempted suicide on four occasions. In a phone interview conducted with CNN, she explained how she came to the title of her choreopoem: "I was driving the No. 1 Highway in northern California and I was overcome by the appearance of two parallel rainbows. I had a feeling of near death or near catastrophe. Then I drove through the rainbow and I went away. Then I put that together to form the title."[10] The colors of the rainbow then became the essence of the women in the choreopoem.
Shange also explains that she chose to use the word "colored" in the title of her choreopoem so that her grandmother would be able to understand it.[7]