Alice Walker's Influence On Education

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Through Alice Walker’s Love for learning and education, her involvement in the civil rights movement, and her importance of the equal treatment and prosperity of African-American women has shaped her into one of the most admired feminist writers working today.
Alice Walker’s early life in a racially divided Eatonton, Georgia, growing up partially blind, and her early love for education has influenced the writings of “Everyday Use”, "Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self", and “Meridian”. Walker grew up in a poor area of Georgia which was a violent place to live and was racially divided (“Alice Malsenior Walker”). Walker growing up in this environment inspired her short story “Everyday Use”, which parallels her early life. “Everyday Use” …show more content…

For example, in 1964 she visited Africa on fellowship, but when she came back she was pregnant and could not find or afford an abortionist in her area (Newsmakers). This whole experience is focused on in her collection of poetry published in 1968 "Once". "Once" is a collection of poetry talking about her experience within Africa and it talks about love, suicide, and civil rights (Newsmakers). Also, while she was in college she was heavily involved in the civil rights movement, participating in the March on Washington, being part of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Community, and participating in the local protest in Atlanta(Newsmakers). Racism and civil rights is a recurring theme in her collections of short stories “In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women”. The collections of short stories talk about the harsh lives of black women in a racially divided south and explain the stereotypes put on them to misguide the perception of black women (Encyclopedia of World Biography). In addition, in 1977 Walker visited Cuba with other writers, artists, and musicians. This visit inspired her to begin writing her breakthrough, Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Color Purple (Newsmaker). The Color Purple is about a poor, semi-literate women who have been mistreated by men her whole life. Overall her experiences around the world and involvement

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