Image

3:26 PM / Thursday March 28, 2024

5 Nov 2015

Alice Walker– “The Color Purple 30th Anniversary”

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
November 5, 2015 Category: Entertainment Posted by:

ABOVE PHOTO: Alice Walker (insert)

 

Interview with Kam Williams

Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for her third novel, “The Color Purple,” which was made into an internationally popular film by Steven Spielberg. Her other best-selling novels, which have been translated into more than two dozen languages, include “By the Light of My Father’s Smile,” “Possessing the Secret of Joy” and “The Temple of My Familiar.”

Walker’s most recent novel, “Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart,” was published in 2004. She is  also the author of several collections of short stories, essays and poems as well as children’s books. Her work has appeared in numerous national and international journals and magazines.

An activist and social visionary, Walker has been a participant in most of the major movements of planetary change, among them the Human and Civil Rights Movement in the South, the Hands Off Cuba Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Native American and Indigenous Rights Movement, the Free South Africa Movement, the Environmental and Animal Rights Movement and the Peace Movement. Her advocacy on behalf of the dispossessed has, in the words of her biographer, Evelyn C. White, “spanned the globe.”

Current cast members of The Color Purple on Broadway; (from left) Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo, Danielle Brooks.  (Photo by Ruven Afanador)

Current cast members of The Color Purple on Broadway; (from left) Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo, Danielle Brooks. (Photo by Ruven Afanador)

Here, Walker. talks about “The Color Purple,” the book, the movie and the play which is back on Broadway, beginning with preview performances on Tuesday, November 10th at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street). The show will officially open on Thursday, December 10th.

Kam Williams: Hi Alice, thanks for the interview. Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the film and the 10th of the Broadway musical.

Alice Walker: Thanks, Kam

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’ll be mixing their questions in with mine. Larry Greenberg asks: How did you originally feel about “The Color Purple” being adapted to film? Are there other works of yours that you would like to see on the silver screen?

AW: I was skeptical. I’d never seen a film out of Hollywood especially that had people of color in it that I respected about  absolutely.  Yes, but I’d want the screen to think of itself in another color it that I respected absolutely. Yes, but I’d want the screen to think of itself in another color than that of money.  Couldn’t resist that one!” Possessing the secret joy” would make an amazing film and help the healing of the peoples of the world, many who suffer because of female genital mutilation without knowing they’re affected, since they themselves might not have been cut. And it would make an absorbing story of how human beings can search out the origins of their misfortunes and sufferings and being healing themselves, whether movies are made about them or not.

KW: Robin Beckham would like to know whether you have plans to continue the story of Celie in a “Color Purple 2”?

AW: I prefer to write a family of novels, rather than “sequels”, in this case, “The Color Purple”, “The Temple of My Familiar”, And “Possessing the Secret of Joy” comprise that “family.” Celie and Shug, now happily married, before it was ‘legal’ of course, appear in “The Temple of My Familiar.”

KW: Rev. Florine Thompson says: You are one of my all time favorites. First of all, thank you for your leadership and for modeling strength and hope for women of the diaspora and African-American women in particular. You are indeed one of my sheroes. I have a few questions: First, what was the key motivation for “The Color Purple”?

AW: Love of my grandparents whose lives are honored in the novel.  I lived with them when I was an 8-year-old.  It also intrigued me that my grandfather was married to my step-grandmother but loved someone else.  I was struck writing the novel to realize that many things change, but rarely the heart.

KW: Secondly, what would you say is the primary difference between womanism and feminism?

AW: There is a full definition of womanist in “In search of our mothers’ gardens.” It is a word that is imagintively re-fashioned from African American culture where to be “womanish” as a child was to be somewhat willful, in the sense of being fully awake, aware, and committed to speaking your truth.  Womanist women are committed to our collective survival. Loving our sons and daughters, our communities, and working with others to increase prosperity and health, but from a position of dignity and equality.  A true womanist honors the feminine, especially mothers and the earth, and could never truly accept being mislabeled a ‘guy.’ 

KW: And lastly, what do you most want women in the diaspora to take away from your collection of essays, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens”?

AW: Whatever helps them grow closer to who they really are.  Gathering up all their ancestral sorrows and joys and walking onward in appreciation and light.  Having some sense of our freedoms being deeply longed for by countless generations of black women who possessed none of them.

KW: David Roth asks: As a longstanding activist against injustice, would you mind commenting on what I am just now coming to appreciate as an entrenched, structural, institutionalized and seemingly pertinacious racism in America–a bias built into our financial institutions [unequal access to capital], our political system [as reflected in the voting rights struggle], our criminal injustice system, our public school system, etcetera. How do we truly change the heart of our society?

AW: American society is in incredibly twisted and unwell.  At this point I would suggest withdrawing from it as much as possible.  This will take many meetings of like-minded folks to figure out how this is done.  I’m not suggesting seceding from the union physically, as was at tempted in the sixties when the Republic of New Africa tried to take over five Southern states, but psychically; we must find a way to raise our children in a better environment than American mainstream culture offers.  It’s possible America has no heart to change.  You might read the inexpressibly important book by Eward E. Baptist, “The Half Has Never Been Told,” about slavery as the foundation of modern capitalism, to understand the evil upon which our so-called “civilization” rests, and how little this has changed.  It seems likely that a diet of greed over countless generations has made many Americans heavy with soullessness.  And they’re happy to be that way.  Take a look at certain presidential hopefuls.

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: Given your highly interesting, celebrated, complex life and thinking, I am interested in knowing what matters most to you at this point in your journey?

AW: Being free enough to pick up kindling for a fire I build myself.

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Were Howard Zinn still alive, where in the world do you think the two of you would choose to make a dramatic statement on behalf of human rights?

AW: Palestine/Israel, hands down. The heartless repression happening there, the slaughter of innocents, cries out for a world response.  The un-reprimanded or, even acknowledged, horror inflicted on the world’s soul, because we collectively seem unable to do enough about it, is actually destroying us as humans.  If we are not careful we will begin to numb ourselves until our own time comes.

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I think the PBS series “Finding Your Roots”nating and very educational. If the program revives, would you be interested in exploring your genealogy? Have you considered doing the DNA research to find out more about your ancestry?

AW: I have sent in my materials to Henry Louis Gates, who requested I try this.  I have mixed feelings, of course. There’s something invasive about this procedure I feel; and I’m concerned for the privacy of ancestors. I tell myself though that certain of my ancestors will not allow themselves to be found, so at best my genealogy will be a partial one. I also feel I know my own ancestors without the help of a DNA test.  I’ve felt this way for a long time.  Perhaps always.

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

AW: That humans could be more like the other animals of the planet, secure in knowing they are; just as they were made.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

AW: Don’t want that. 

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

AW: As someone who loved you.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Alice, and best of luck with all your endeavors.

AW: Thank you, Kam

To purchase a copy of the reissue edition of “The Color Purple,” visit here.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Leave a Comment

Recent News

Philly NAACP

March 24, 2024

March 17, 2024

Tweet Email Tweet Email Related Posts Philadelphia Judicial Primary Candidates At A Glance Guide Philadelphia Judicial Candidates...

Commentary

cj speaks…The call to order

March 23, 2024

Tweet Email Philadelphia’s recent travesties continue to be highlighted in the news: the ongoing shooting incidents, train...

Health

Combatting loneliness in older adults

March 17, 2024

Tweet Email FAMILY FEATURES The bonds found in friendships and other relationships are an important factor in...

Home and Garden

So, You want to build a retaining wall: 6 things to know before you start

March 3, 2024

Tweet Email BPT When you want to enhance your outdoor living space, consider building with retaining wall...

Fur Babies Rule!

Dog grooming advice to keep pets clean and healthy

March 2, 2024

Tweet Email FAMILY FEATURESRegular grooming can keep your dog looking and smelling his or her best, but...

Seniors

‘Soaring’ over hills or ‘playing’ with puppies, study finds seniors enjoy virtual reality

February 23, 2024

Tweet Email By Terry Spencerassociated press POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — Retired Army Col. Farrell Patrick taught computer...

The Philadelphia Sunday Sun Staff