The World Has Changed (50 page)
Read The World Has Changed Online
Authors: Alice Walker
What is fascinating is that now I see that writing fiction has been a way for me to have a memory, though it is largely, well, fictional.
NOTES
1
Alice Walker, “Three Dollars Cash,” in
Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems, 1965–1990
(New York: Harvest, 1996), 161.
Alice Walker, “Three Dollars Cash,” in
Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems, 1965–1990
(New York: Harvest, 1996), 161.
2
Ibid., 161.
Ibid., 161.
4
Alice Walker, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self,” in
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich, 1983), 386–87.
Alice Walker, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self,” in
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich, 1983), 386–87.
8
The Alice Walker Archive, Box OBV 1, in the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
The Alice Walker Archive, Box OBV 1, in the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
10
Ibid., 271.
Ibid., 271.
12
Ibid.
Ibid.
13
Ibid., 39.
Ibid., 39.
15
Ibid., 114.
Ibid., 114.
16
Ibid., 112–18.
Ibid., 112–18.
17
Ibid., 125–26.
Ibid., 125–26.
18
Ibid., 127.
Ibid., 127.
19
For “Suicide of an American Girl,” see Alice Walker Archive, Box 73, Folder 1.
For “Suicide of an American Girl,” see Alice Walker Archive, Box 73, Folder 1.
20
Alice Walker Archive, Box 88, Folder 19.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 88, Folder 19.
21
Ibid.
Ibid.
22
Underwritten by the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, the Merrill Fellowships were awarded annually to students of Spelman College and Morehouse College through the generosity of Charles Merrill, trustee emeritus and former chair of the board of Morehouse College. The Merrill Fellowship came with
a cash award of $2,000. See Evelyn White’s
Alice Walker: A Life
(New York: W.W. Norton, 2004,) 89, 130.
Underwritten by the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, the Merrill Fellowships were awarded annually to students of Spelman College and Morehouse College through the generosity of Charles Merrill, trustee emeritus and former chair of the board of Morehouse College. The Merrill Fellowship came with
a cash award of $2,000. See Evelyn White’s
Alice Walker: A Life
(New York: W.W. Norton, 2004,) 89, 130.
24
This statement appears as a headnote for Walker’s prize-winning essay “The Civil Rights Movement: What Good Was It?” in
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
, 119.
This statement appears as a headnote for Walker’s prize-winning essay “The Civil Rights Movement: What Good Was It?” in
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
, 119.
26
Ibid., 137.
Ibid., 137.
27
Alice Walker Archive, Box 2, Folder 4.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 2, Folder 4.
28
Ibid., Box 2, Folder 6.
Ibid., Box 2, Folder 6.
29
Ibid.
Ibid.
31
Ibid., 156.
Ibid., 156.
32
Alice Walker Archive, Box 2, Folder 6.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 2, Folder 6.
34
Alice Walker Archive, Box 2, Folder 6.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 2, Folder 6.
35
Ibid.
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
Ibid.
37
Ibid.
Ibid.
38
Ibid.
Ibid.
39
Ibid.
Ibid.
41
Michael S. Harper, “Alice,” in
Images of Kin: New and Selected Poems
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), 66.
Michael S. Harper, “Alice,” in
Images of Kin: New and Selected Poems
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), 66.
43
Ibid., 413.
Ibid., 413.
44
Alice Walker established Wild Trees Press in 1984 and operated it with Robert Allen until 1988. The mission statement of the press was “We publish only what we love.” White,
Alice Walker
, 388.
Alice Walker established Wild Trees Press in 1984 and operated it with Robert Allen until 1988. The mission statement of the press was “We publish only what we love.” White,
Alice Walker
, 388.
45
Ibid., 326–27.
Ibid., 326–27.
47
Ibid., 355.
Ibid., 355.
48
Alice Walker Archive, Box 51, Folder 1.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 51, Folder 1.
49
Ibid.
Ibid.
50
The key to
The Color Purple
identifies Celie as her great-grandmother, but in correspondence dated September 18, 2009, Walker states that the victim of rape and the model for the character Celie was her great-grandmother Anne.
The key to
The Color Purple
identifies Celie as her great-grandmother, but in correspondence dated September 18, 2009, Walker states that the victim of rape and the model for the character Celie was her great-grandmother Anne.
51
Alice Walker Archive, Box 51, Folder 1.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 51, Folder 1.
52
Ibid.
Ibid.
53
Alice Walker to Rudolph P. Byrd, correspondence, September 18, 2009.
Alice Walker to Rudolph P. Byrd, correspondence, September 18, 2009.
54
Alice Walker Archive, Box 51, Folder 1.
Alice Walker Archive, Box 51, Folder 1.
55
Ibid.
Ibid.
56
Ibid.
Ibid.
58
Roland Freeman,
A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories
(Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996), 150.
Roland Freeman,
A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories
(Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996), 150.
61
Ibid., 360.
Ibid., 360.
62
Ibid., 359.
Ibid., 359.
63
Ibid., 298–99.
Ibid., 298–99.
64
Ibid., 22–23.
Ibid., 22–23.
65
Alice Walker,
Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer’s Activism
(New York: Random House, 1997), xiii.
Alice Walker,
Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer’s Activism
(New York: Random House, 1997), xiii.
66
Ibid., xiv.
Ibid., xiv.
68
Ibid.
Ibid.
69
Ibid., 64–65.
Ibid., 64–65.
70
Alice Walker to Rudolph P. Byrd, correspondence, August 28, 2009.
Alice Walker to Rudolph P. Byrd, correspondence, August 28, 2009.
71
Ibid.
Ibid.
72
Ibid.
Ibid.
74
Ibid., xxiii.
Ibid., xxiii.
75
Ibid.
Ibid.
77
This phrase is based upon a statement written by Peggy and Bill Lykes of Tucker, Georgia, who recorded their impressions of the exhibition “A Keeping of Records: The Art and Life of Alice Walker” in the comment book located in the Schatten Gallery of the Robert W. Woodruff Library of Emory University. There the Lykeses wrote: “Alice Walker continues to change the world, heart by heart.” Commemorating the opening of the Alice Walker archive to the public, “A Keeping of Records” opened on April 23, 2009, and closed on September 28, 2009.
This phrase is based upon a statement written by Peggy and Bill Lykes of Tucker, Georgia, who recorded their impressions of the exhibition “A Keeping of Records: The Art and Life of Alice Walker” in the comment book located in the Schatten Gallery of the Robert W. Woodruff Library of Emory University. There the Lykeses wrote: “Alice Walker continues to change the world, heart by heart.” Commemorating the opening of the Alice Walker archive to the public, “A Keeping of Records” opened on April 23, 2009, and closed on September 28, 2009.
CONTRIBUTORS
Isabelle Allende
is a journalist, playwright, and novelist born in Chile. She is the author of articles published in newspapers and magazines in the Americas and in Europe. Allende is the author of seventeen novels, including the much acclaimed
The House of the Spirits
,
Eva Luna
, and, most recently,
The Island Beneath the Sea.
In the United States, she has held faculty appointments at the University of Virginia, Montclair State University, and the University of California at Berkeley.
is a journalist, playwright, and novelist born in Chile. She is the author of articles published in newspapers and magazines in the Americas and in Europe. Allende is the author of seventeen novels, including the much acclaimed
The House of the Spirits
,
Eva Luna
, and, most recently,
The Island Beneath the Sea.
In the United States, she has held faculty appointments at the University of Virginia, Montclair State University, and the University of California at Berkeley.
Jean Shinoda Bolen
is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, author, and activist. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles, Pomona College, the University of California at Berkeley, and the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco. Shinoda Bolen’s many professional honors include being named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry. She is the author of ten books, including
The Tao of Psychology, Crossing to Avalon
, and
Urgent Message from Mother.
is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, author, and activist. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles, Pomona College, the University of California at Berkeley, and the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco. Shinoda Bolen’s many professional honors include being named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry. She is the author of ten books, including
The Tao of Psychology, Crossing to Avalon
, and
Urgent Message from Mother.
Rudolph P. Byrd
is the Goodrich C. White Professor of American Studies and the founding director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies at Emory University. He is the author or editor of several books, including
Writing the American Palimpsest: The Novels of Charles Johnson
and
I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde
(co-edited with Johnnetta B. Cole and Beverly Guy Sheftall). He is the co-founder of the Alice Walker Literary Society.
is the Goodrich C. White Professor of American Studies and the founding director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies at Emory University. He is the author or editor of several books, including
Writing the American Palimpsest: The Novels of Charles Johnson
and
I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde
(co-edited with Johnnetta B. Cole and Beverly Guy Sheftall). He is the co-founder of the Alice Walker Literary Society.
Ellen Bring
is a journalist, activist, and a frequent contributor to
Animal’s Agenda
based in Oakland, California.
is a journalist, activist, and a frequent contributor to
Animal’s Agenda
based in Oakland, California.
Ani Pema Chödrön
is an ordained Buddhist nun in the Tibetan Vajrana tradition. Educated at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and the
University of California at Berkeley, she was an elementary school teacher in New Mexico and California prior to her conversion to Buddhism. Chödrön became a novice nun in 1974 under the tutelage of Lama Chime Rinpoche, and was ordained by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa. She is the former director of the Karma Dznong in Boulder, Colorado, and is currently the director of the Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is the author of
The Wisdom of No Escape
,
Start Where You Are, Heart Advice for Difficult Times
, and
The Places That Scare You
, among other books.
is an ordained Buddhist nun in the Tibetan Vajrana tradition. Educated at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and the
University of California at Berkeley, she was an elementary school teacher in New Mexico and California prior to her conversion to Buddhism. Chödrön became a novice nun in 1974 under the tutelage of Lama Chime Rinpoche, and was ordained by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa. She is the former director of the Karma Dznong in Boulder, Colorado, and is currently the director of the Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is the author of
The Wisdom of No Escape
,
Start Where You Are, Heart Advice for Difficult Times
, and
The Places That Scare You
, among other books.
Claudia Dreifus
is a freelance writer in New York City. She is a regular contributor to
The Progressive.
is a freelance writer in New York City. She is a regular contributor to
The Progressive.
William R. Ferris
is the Joel Williamson Eminent Professor of History and Senior Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the American South. He has held faculty appointments at Yale University and the University of Mississippi. Ferris is also the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He is the author or editor of ten books, including
Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues
and the
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
(co-edited with Charles Reagan Wilson), and the creator of fifteen documentary films.
is the Joel Williamson Eminent Professor of History and Senior Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the American South. He has held faculty appointments at Yale University and the University of Mississippi. Ferris is also the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He is the author or editor of ten books, including
Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues
and the
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
(co-edited with Charles Reagan Wilson), and the creator of fifteen documentary films.
George Galloway
is the Respect Party’s MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in London, a seat he won after having been expelled from the Labour Party, after thirty-six years of membership, for his opposition to the Iraq War. He is the author of
Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington
and
I’m Not the Only One
and the editor of
The Fidel Castro Handbook.
is the Respect Party’s MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in London, a seat he won after having been expelled from the Labour Party, after thirty-six years of membership, for his opposition to the Iraq War. He is the author of
Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington
and
I’m Not the Only One
and the editor of
The Fidel Castro Handbook.
Paula Giddings
is the E.A. Woodson 1922 Professor of African American Studies at Smith College. She is the author of
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
, a landmark work of scholarship in African American women’s history. She also is the author of
In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement
, and, most recently, the critically acclaimed biography of Ida B. Wells
Ida: A Sword Among
Lions.
Giddings has written for the
Washington Post
, the
New York Times
, the
Philadelphia Inquirer
, and
The Nation.
She is the senior editor of
Meridians
, a peer-reviewed feminist, interdisciplinary journal.
is the E.A. Woodson 1922 Professor of African American Studies at Smith College. She is the author of
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
, a landmark work of scholarship in African American women’s history. She also is the author of
In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement
, and, most recently, the critically acclaimed biography of Ida B. Wells
Ida: A Sword Among
Lions.
Giddings has written for the
Washington Post
, the
New York Times
, the
Philadelphia Inquirer
, and
The Nation.
She is the senior editor of
Meridians
, a peer-reviewed feminist, interdisciplinary journal.
Amy Goodman
is the host and executive producer of
Democracy Now!
, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over eight hundred TV and radio stations in North America. She is the author or co-author of several books, including
Breaking the Sound Barrier.
is the host and executive producer of
Democracy Now!
, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over eight hundred TV and radio stations in North America. She is the author or co-author of several books, including
Breaking the Sound Barrier.
Jody Hoy
is a freelance journalist and the editor of
The Power of Dreams: Interviews with Women in the Creative Arts.
is a freelance journalist and the editor of
The Power of Dreams: Interviews with Women in the Creative Arts.
Margo Jefferson
is Critic-at-Large for the
New York Times.
She has held faculty appointments at New York University and Columbia University. Jefferson has been a contributing critic to
The Nation
, the
New York Times Book Review
, the
Village Voice, Ms.
, the
Soho Weekly News, Dance Ink, Lear’s, Harper’s Magazine, Alt, Denmark
, and
NRC Handelsblad
in the Netherlands. She is the author of
Roots of Time: A Portrait of African Life and Culture
and
On Michael Jackson.
In 1995, Jefferson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.
is Critic-at-Large for the
New York Times.
She has held faculty appointments at New York University and Columbia University. Jefferson has been a contributing critic to
The Nation
, the
New York Times Book Review
, the
Village Voice, Ms.
, the
Soho Weekly News, Dance Ink, Lear’s, Harper’s Magazine, Alt, Denmark
, and
NRC Handelsblad
in the Netherlands. She is the author of
Roots of Time: A Portrait of African Life and Culture
and
On Michael Jackson.
In 1995, Jefferson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.
John O’Brien
is a literary critic and the editor of
Interviews with Black Writers.
His work has been published in
Studies in Black Literature, Fiction International
, the
American Scholar
, and
New Orleans Review.
is a literary critic and the editor of
Interviews with Black Writers.
His work has been published in
Studies in Black Literature, Fiction International
, the
American Scholar
, and
New Orleans Review.
Marianne Schnall
is a writer and interviewer who has worked for many publications. She is the founder of the women’s site
Feminist.com
and the co-founder of the environmental site
EcoMall.com
. Through her diverse writing, interviews, and Web sites, Schnall seeks to raise awareness about important issues and causes.
is a writer and interviewer who has worked for many publications. She is the founder of the women’s site
Feminist.com
and the co-founder of the environmental site
EcoMall.com
. Through her diverse writing, interviews, and Web sites, Schnall seeks to raise awareness about important issues and causes.
Tami Simon
is the founder and publisher of Sounds True Recordings.
is the founder and publisher of Sounds True Recordings.
David Swick
is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to
Shambhala Sun.
is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to
Shambhala Sun.
Claudia Tate
(1947–2002) was a pioneering scholar in the fields of English, African American studies, and American studies. Educated at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Harvard University, she was a member of a generation of scholars who laid the foundation for the field of African American studies in the 1970s. Tate held faculty appointments at Howard University, George Mason University, and Princeton University. She was the author or editor of
Black Women Writers at Work, Domestic Allegories of Political Desire: The Black Heroine’s Text at the Turn of the Century
, and
Psychoanalysis and Black Novels: Desire and the Protocols of Race.
(1947–2002) was a pioneering scholar in the fields of English, African American studies, and American studies. Educated at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Harvard University, she was a member of a generation of scholars who laid the foundation for the field of African American studies in the 1970s. Tate held faculty appointments at Howard University, George Mason University, and Princeton University. She was the author or editor of
Black Women Writers at Work, Domestic Allegories of Political Desire: The Black Heroine’s Text at the Turn of the Century
, and
Psychoanalysis and Black Novels: Desire and the Protocols of Race.
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