Alice Walker is an internationally celebrated writer, poet, and activist whose books include seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children’s books, and volumes of essays and poetry. She won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1983 and the National Book Award. Some of her bestselling works include The Temple of My Familiar, By the Light of My Father’s Smile, Possessing the Secret of Joy, and The Color Purple, which has been adapted to the stage and the screen. She is an advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, environmental and animal rights, and many other movements aimed toward worldwide change and equality.
She was born in rural Georgia on February 9, 1944. She had to overcome several challenges such as childhood injury (she suffered injury to her right eye after one of her brothers fired a BB gun and lack of immediate medical attention caused permanent blindness in that eye), and segregation. She had to attend the only high school available to Black students in Eatonton, Butler Baker High School. She graduated as valedictorian and enrolled in Spelman College in 1961 after being granted a full scholarship by the state of Georgia for her academic achievements. While a student at Spelman, she met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She credits him with her decision to return to the American south as an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. She took part in the 1963 March on Washington and later volunteered to register Black voters in Georgia and Mississippi.
Aside from her civil rights activism, she would often educate others about the Black feminist movement through her teachings at several different higher education institutions. She has also been a longtime sponsor of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She has written several works that convey her pacifist views, where she discusses the importance for establishing an equitable and peaceful society.
