Alice Walker, Women's History Month - 3

 THE TALENTED & BEAUTIFUL, MS. ALICE WALKER!

Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is a novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist.

In 1982, she became the 1st African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple.

Calling All Grandmothers - a poem by Alice Walker

We have to live

differently.

or we

will die

in the same

old ways.

Therefore

I call on all Grand Mothers

everywhere

on the planet

to rise

and take your place

in the leadership

of the world.

Come out

of the kitchen

out of the

fields

out of the beauty parlors

out of the television

Step forward

and assume

the role

for which

you were

created:

to lead humanity

to health, happiness

and sanity.

I call on

all the

Grand Mothers

of Earth

and every person

who possesses

the Grand Mother

Spirit

of respect for

life

and

protection of

the young

to rise

and lead.

The life of

our species

depends

on it.

& I call on all men

of Earth

to gracefully

and

gratefully

stand aside

& let them

(let us)

do so.

Over the span of her career, Ms. Walker has published 17 novels and short story collections, 12 non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry. She has faced criticism for alleged antisemitism and for her endorsement of the conspiracist David Icke.

Her spirituality has influenced some of her most well-known novels, including The Color Purple. She has written of her interest in Transcendental Meditation.

Acclaimed author Alice Walker who is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Color Purple,” as well as the critically-acclaimed film of the same title. The youngest daughter of sharecroppers in Georgia, Walker benefited from her parents’ determination to ensure a good education for their children. Walker graduated as valedictorian of her class and attended Spelman College in Atlanta before transferring to Sarah Lawrence College to graduate in 1965.

 Born in Eatonton, Georgia (1944). She was the youngest of eight children, the daughter of poor sharecroppers. Walker graduated first in her high school class and won a scholarship to Spelman College (1961). She transferred to Sarah Lawrence after two years, and a short story she wrote there was sent to Langston Hughes, who became an early champion of her writing. 

SOURCE: Writer's Almanac

Her third novel was "The Color Purple."

Walker became involved in the Civil Rights Movement as a young woman thanks to the interactions she had had with both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Howard Zinn while at Spelman College. She was part of the 1963 March on Washington and worked to register black voters in the South. In the 1970s, she joined the editorial staff of Ms. Magazine, where she recommitted herself to writing. Her 1975 Ms. Magazine article "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston," also revived interest in Zora Neale Hurston’s works which had fallen into obscurity for several decades.

Alice Walker's list of publications is long, but the majority of her writing focuses on the both modern and historical issues related to race and culture, in particular the struggles of African-American women. Considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Walker became the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1983.

All of the above are quotes from vvarious public media. A friend of mine said "she's my mentor" and I agree. What a wonderful grounded person she is!