Alice Walker

Alice Walker is an award winning novelist most famous for her novel "The Color Purple", and credited with coining the term Womanist for the Black Woman

### Occupation

Author, Poet, Activist

**Alice Walker** (1944-Present) is an accomplished writer, poet and activist. She is most noted for penning the novel "The Color Purple" in 1982. Walker has also made a name for herself in the activist world, coining the term "Womanist" to bring awareness to the experience of black feminists and feminists of color.[1][6]

## Biography

**Alice Malsenior Walker** is the youngest of the eight children born to sharecroppers, Minnie Tallulah (Lou) Grant Walker and Willie Lee Walker. Walker came to age in the southern state of Georgia around the time Jim Crow Laws were in place, and racial tensions were common between white and black southerners. As a child, Walker found a love for reading and developed a skill in writing. Maturing in an impoverished household dominated by the male influence of her father and older brothers, Alice Walker began expressing her experience as a black woman through poems and novels. Walker is most known for the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "*The Color Purple"* (1982), but has also written established works such as the essay "*In Search of our Mother's Gardens*" (1983), and *"Meridian"* (1976).[1][3][5][7]

At the young age of 8, Alice Walker suffered from a BB gun injury to the eye by the hand of her older brother. This injury damaged her ability to see from her right eye and the scar it left wounded Walker's veiw of herself. This blow to her self-esteem caused Walker to seclude herself from the world and cling to the power of the pen in her writing. By ostracizing herself from others, Walker became more observant of people and their relationships. This trauma matured her as she began discovering her self-worth and becoming more conscious of what it means to be a black woman. Her years of self reflection and awareness granted her the ability empathize with the experience of others (specifically the Black Woman's experience) through her writing. In many of her works, Alice Walker acknowledges the Black Community and gives a voice to the those who are often excluded from mainstream media. Walker often acknowledges that the scars she suffered from as a child, both physical and emotional, allowed her to blossom into the writer she is today.[1][3][5]

As a scholar, Alice Walker graduated from Spelman College on a scholarship and continued her education in writing further at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence, Walker relocated to Mississippi where she fell in love with and married a Jewish civil rights lawyer named Melvyn Leventhal in 1967. Two years later in 1969, Walker and Leventhal joined together to bring forth a baby girl, Rebecca. However, the two divorced in 1976 and Alice Walker relocated to San Francisco with her daughter to continue her writing career.[1][3]

In 1983, through the publishing of "*In Search of our Mother's Gardens*", Walker established the concept of ***Womanism*** for the Black Woman. Through this term, Alice Walker explores what it means to be a lover of women's culture and greatly impacts feminist theory. She also addresses the power that black women have within their womanhood and their blackness. Throughout her career, Walker uses her writing as a platform to bring awareness to causes she is passionate about, like Womanism and Civil Rights.[6][2][3]

In recent years, Alice Walker continues to write and engage her reades. In 2013, Walker added two new novels to her collection "*The World Will Follow Joy"* and "*The Cushin in the Road*". In addition to her new pieces of writing, Walker also keeps her voice heard by regularly blogging on her website, Alicewalkersgarden.com.[4]

## "The Color Purple"

In 1982, Alice Walker published "*The Color Purple*", a novel that would allow her to become the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize Award. "*The Color Purple*" follows the life of a young African American woman, Celie, who struggles to find her self-worth as she grows up in a life filled with abuse and oppression. The novel received high esteem, and was later transformed into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film starred well known actors and actresses such as Danny Glover, Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. It has even been transformed into a musical that is still being performed on Broadway.[3][7][1]

Although initially Walker had some hesitancy with her novel being made into a film, she later appreciated that there was a production that could shed light on certain aspects of the African American experience. Now even more popularized by the film and the musical, "*The Color Purple*" reached an even larger audience. However, as the views increased, Walker's third and most notarized book (and film), received a lot of criticism and backlash for its depiction of the Black Community.[7]

## Backlash

Some of the main criticisms against "*The Color Purple*", and other novels by Walker, was the way it portrayed men in the Black Community. Walker's critics believed that her display of abusive and oppressive black male characters stemmed from a deep place of resentment. They also use her marriage to Jewish civil rights lawyer, Melvyn Leventhal, as a way to further justify their viewpoints.[7]

Walker explains, however, that the purpose of her work is not to bash black men, and that she has deep love for her Black Community. She informs that characters in her novels should not be used as a portrayal of all black men, but used to bring awareness to certain abuses that happen within the Black Community. Walker also admits that many of her male characters are developed from the strained relationship she had with her father growing up.[7][5]

Despite all the criticism attached to her work, Walker continually shows that she is not afraid to shed light on uncomfortable topics. Whether it is sexuality, abuse, or womanisim, Alice Walker continues to share her voice with the world.

## Womanist

The term ***womanist*** was coined by Alice Walker. This term gave African American women an outlet to share their experiences that were not acknowledged in the popular feminist movements. Walker describes the *womanist* as the black feminist or feminist of color. The term is used to define women love women (either sexually or non sexually) and appreciate women's culture.[6]

Walker expresses that *womanism* allows one to capture the intersectionality of a woman who carries her womanhood and her blackness at the same time. This term defies the idea that there is a universal experience that can relate to every woman. It pushes for a deeper and more complex conversation on women and their desires for change.[6][2]

*Womanism* gives a voice to black women and women of color. It is for the women who were often ignored and excluded from feminist movements that didn't understand how to relate to, or engage their issues and aspirations. *Womanism* is created an open door for inclusion where black feminists and feminists of color could find representation of themselves and their experiences. [6][2]

## Sources

[1] Alice Walker. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2017, from http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/alice-walker/

[2] Burrow Jr., R. (1998). Enter Womanist Theology and Ethics. *Western Journal Of Black Studies*, *22*(1), 19.

[3] Foundation, P. (2017, September 26). Alice Walker [text/html]. Retrieved September 28, 2017, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/alice-walker

[4] New Books | Alice Walker | The Official Website for the American Novelist & Poet. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://alicewalkersgarden.com/new-books/

[5] ROBINSON, C. C. (2009). The Evolution of Alice Walker. *Women's Studies*, *38*(3), 293-311.

[6]WALKER, A. (2012). [Womanist: Definition]. *Buddhist-Christian Studies*, *32*, 45–45.

[7] Whitaker, C. (1992, May). Alice Walker: Color Purple Author Confronts Her Critics and Talks About Her Provocative New Book. *Ebony; Houston*, *47*(7), 86.