A Multidisciplinary Research Journal - Devanga Arts College

scholars. She coined the term ‘womanism’ in 1983 in her collection of essays entitled In Search
of Our Mother’s Gardens, which would define African American feminism for a large number of
African American women who had been trying to define themselves within and without the
white dominated feminist thought by women of African descent and it is applied to the historical
understanding of black women’s writings, theories and history. Walker’s writings include novels,
stories, essays and poems. They focus on the struggles of African Americans, and particularly
African American women, against societies that are racist, sexist, and often violent. Her writings
tend to emphasize the strength of black women and the importance of African American heritage
and culture. She is widely respected for her outspoken attitude and views, regardless of the
popular public opinions at the time, whether they favour her views or they do not. She is openly
bisexual, and sympathetic of people of all sexualities, ethnicities and race. Walker is not only an
extraordinary writer but also a strong leader in many pre- womanish campaigns. Walker’s unique
and distinguished life style and her boldness on the issues she tackles in her stories have
evaluated her to the status of a legend in American literature. Although most people know her for
her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Color Purple, Alice walker has a diverse and interesting
history and has contributed to many activist efforts nationwide.
Alice Malsenior Walker was born on February, 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia to
sharecropper parents. She was the eighth and the youngest child of Minne Tallulah Grant Walker
and Willie Lee Walker. She grew up in the midst of violent racism, which combined with her
family’s poverty left a permanent impression on her writing. In the summer of 1952, at the age of
eight, Alice was playing “Cowboys and Indians” with her brothers when she was accidentally
shot in her right eye by a BB gun pellet. This accident left her permanently blinded in that eye.
Afterwards, her confidence began to fade. As a result, she began to observe others and their
relationships and she found that she liked to write. When she was fourteen, one of her brothers
paid to have the ‘cataract’ removed from her eye. While the surgery did not return the vision in
her one eye, it did help restore her confidence. Walker graduated from high school in 1961. She
was valedictorian of her class and was voted prom queen. She decided to attend Spelman College
in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was able to secure a scholarship awarded by the Georgia
Department of Rehabilitation to physically challenged students in combination with an academic
scholarship. After two years at Spelman, Alice received a scholarship to Sarah Lawrence who
gave Walker a chance to receive monitoring from the poet Muriel Ruykeys and writer Jane