This should be the article you guys comment on, unless you're feeling lucky:
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframwomentimeline/a/aaw1940_time.htm
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframwomentimeline/a/aaw1950_time.htm
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframwomentimeline/a/aaw1960_time.htm
And keep hitting [Next] for more imformation.
And keep hitting [Next] for more imformation.
Alright we'll start off in chronological order:
ReplyDelete- First of all, she was born in Georgia. Being from the Deep South impacted her since a child and also being the daughter of sharecroppers, she saw first hand how blacks were treated during the time period.
- I cant really see the freak accident meaning anything accept Walker understanding that in life, S**t happens ^.^
- Entering college fortified her beliefs and then they grew even more once she was invited to Martin Luther Kings actual home.
- She soon becomes a "rebel" of sorts by becoming the first inter-racial couple in Mississippi, which at that point she couldn't be stopped.
- Skipping many years of literary practice, Walker publishes The Color Purple, and "becomes an over-night literary success". After that, she gains awards and continues to concentrate on womens/blacks rights
Alright, now that Ive summarized the timeline, lets talk about how it relates to the book! Like I mentioned before, the lifestyle she carried has been the sole reason she writes the way she does. After all, she grew up seeing the worst of the worst (well, 50% seeing I guess). Something the timeline forgot to mention was her trip to Africa, which I think DEFINITELY helped steer her ideas towards "revolution". So GOOD JOB Matthew Kane for including her freaking trip to AFRICA.
Alright, now that we've got the right articles up... We've all pieced together for ourselves now that Ms. Walker is definitely a womens' rights activist so I think that a timeline of important events for african american women in the time period 1940 to 1969 was a good choice. I'm pretty sure a lot of the events in this time period had an impact on Walker writing TCP. The Civil Rights movement comes to mind along with the desegregation of schools. I'm sure that Walker was influenced by Rosa Parks as well. I'll admit that some of the things that are included in this timeline are a bit... unnecessary? Things like Halle Berry's birthday come to mind seeing that she would've been too young to really have an influence on the writing of TCP. And I KNEW Oprah was going to show up somewhere on that timeline... Walker had some good stuff to influence her writing of TCP. I guess that time period gave african americans a great deal of confidence. And rightly so.
ReplyDeleteOprah would definitely approve of this Xerxes. Alice Walker's early life in the Dirty South helped inspire her to change the rights and lives of blacks, especially female blacks. Oprah would also of approve of how you mentioned it related to the book. Walker had lived through all the pain and triumph that old school black woman are notorious for. In fact, I would be willing to bet that most of the black women stereotypes are inspired by The Color Purple. In a way I would think that The Color Purple is somewhat of an auto-biography with a little variation, and I'm sure Oprah would agree with that.
ReplyDeleteI didnt think of Rosa Parks. I can see a lot of her influence coming from that incident. As well as Martin Luther King inviting her to his home. It was probably the nudge that pushed into writing civil rights novels and poetry exposing mistreatment of women and blacks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Rosa Parks didn't crap from the man! I do agree that she most likely inspired a lot of people, not just black women. Heck, I would have been inspired by her. Walker had lost of things to influence her writing, not just Rosa Parks.
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