Born February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia Youngest of 8 children Parents were croppers At the age of 8 she got shot in the eye with a bb gun and lost her sight She was very shy and embarrassed of the scar tissue build-up on her eye throughout her school years She became prom queen and class valedictorian Got the scar tissue on her eye removed in college Went to Spelman College for Black Women in Atlanta, GA and became active in the civil rights movement After graduating with her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence college on scholarship in New York she moved back to the south

In 1965 Walker married Melvyn Roseman Leventhal, a Jewish white civil rights attorney They moved to Jackson, Mississippi where they had their only child Rebecca in 1969 She worked at Jackson State college as a writer-in- residence Walker’s first novel The Third Life of Grange Copeland was also published in 1969 Melvyn and Alice’s marriage ended in 1977

She writes about new culture language of black arts and power She speaks for the strength of African American women Walker moved to Northern California where she lives and writes today Has taught African American women's studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Yale, Brandeis, and the University of California Berkeley Walker has written many articles and reviews to acquaint new generations of writers to Zora Neal Hurston to bring her writings back into print

Walker started publishing her fiction and poetry in the latter years of the Black Arts movement in the late 1960’s She is a poet and an activist Has written 7 novels, 4 collections of short stories, 4 children's books, and volumes of essays and poems She is best know for her novel The Color Purple published in 1982 Because of this she was the first African American woman to win Pulitzer prize in fiction and the National Book Award Her work has been translated into more then 2 dozen languages Wrote an essay called Beyond the Peacock where she evaluates the older white writer Flannery O’Connor and the perspectives from which you see religion and heritage People would look at O’Connor’s brick home and enjoy the look of the homemade brick, Walker brings up to them the suffering that the slaves had to go through in the process of making it

The third novel Walker wrote Published in 1982 Her strongest narrative statement as Walker puts it, “a ‘womanist’ which goes back to the black folk expression ‘womanism’ which is a mother to daughter context which signifies adult, mature, responsible behavior” It is a work structured through a series of letters Set in rural Georgia segregation Some say that her portrayal of the black man is male bashing, but others like it It was turned into a major motion picture in 1985 by Steven Spielberg

This book has many short stories in it. Focus women's life with the connection of the past and the present The stories focus on how African American Women have suffered because of the darkness of their skin All of the women in the stories live in a white-dominated society

Everyday Use is set in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s when African Americans tried to gain their social, cultural, and personal identity The term Black was replaced with Negro which offended many At the time people were really interested in the African roots but wanted to get rid of their American heritage because of all the pain and sorrow it brought back Characters: Mama- narrator, large, big boned, has rough man- working hands, does not like white people Maggie- daughter, homely, ashamed of the scars on her arms and legs, not very intelligent, going to marry John Thomas Dee (Wangero)- daughter, nice hair, lighter than Maggie but a fuller figure, self- centered, went to college in Augusta Asalamalakim (Hakim-a- barber)- Dee’s boyfriend or possibly husband she brought from school

Plot: The Johnson’s house burnt down earlier in the story and Maggie suffered severe burns on her body. Dee was happy because she hated the house. Mama raised money with the church to send Dee to school in Augusta. Dee comes home and brings Hakim-a-barber with her and seems to be happy to come home and see them. She tired to take some of the family items in the house including the quilt her grandmother made. Maggie ended up getting the quilt, as planned, and Dee was not happy. Mama in the story shows that she cares about her heritage by knowing where the pieces of fabric came from in the quilt The butter churn also symbolizes mamas love for her heritage because when Dee is wrapping it up she is remembering back when Big Dee and Stash lived in the area where the tree was cut down to use the yellow wood for the churn When she takes the dasher handle in her hands she remembers all of those who had it in their hands before them By Dee wanting to have the quilt, churn and the dasher she is wanting to be more like the white people where they display these items

Walker, Alice. "Alicewalkergarden.com." Alicewalkergarden.com. Alice Walker, Web. 30 Mar White, David. "White. "Everyday Use": Defining African-American Heritage." White. "Everyday Use": Defining African-American Heritage. Luminariun, 19 Sept Web. 30 Mar Whitted, Qiana. "New Georgia Encyclopedia: Alice Walker (b. 1944)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. The New Georgia Encyclopedia, 5 Dec Web. 30 Mar Works Cited