Alice Walker's Blog, page 69

The Iron Age, The Age of Sorrow

James FoleyThe Iron Age, The Age of Sorrowfor Yusuf©2014 by Alice WalkerWhere do we go when we die?the little child asked.And the Ancient One who liveswithin all little children said to her:You go to the very same place you go toeach night when you fall asleep.And therefore the parents of Jamesthe beheaded onewhose face was more »

The Language of Bombs

The Language of Bombs©2014 by Alice WalkerDearest Zainab,Whenever my country bombs your country,I think of you.Which means you are frequently on my mind.I often think of the bombersAnd how little they can seeOf what is below them.Many who returnedFrom earlier “missions”Said it was only later,When they went backAnd saw the groundThey bombedThat they realizedIraqis plantedCereal more »

The Language of the Empty Man

The Language of the Empty Man©2014 by Alice WalkerDearest Zainab,Whenever my country bombs your country,I think of you.Which means you are frequently on my mind.I often think of the bombersAnd how little they can seeOf what is below them.Many who returnedFrom earlier “missions”Said it was only later,When they went backAnd saw the groundThey bombedThat they more »

Don’t Break Your Heart, Again (Thank You, Zillah Eisenstein)

Don’t Break Your Heart Again, I Couldn’t Bear It. – AWShe’s In: Anti-Racist, Anti-Imperial Feminists Against WarAugust 21, 2014ByGuest ContributorBy Zillah EisensteinHillary Rodham Clinton (un)officially entered the 2016 presidential race in herinterviewwith Jeffrey Goldberg ofThe Atlanticmagazine. Much has been said of her criticism of the Obama administration’s Syria policy and the vacuum it supposedly created more »

Talking to Hamas

Alice Walker and Huda Naim, Palestinian member of parliament and mother of five 2010 in GazaHuda Naim, democratically elected official,I do not know how it goes with youand your childrenbut every day I am thinking of you.Did you know that before we left the USour government spokespeopletold us: you mustn’t speak to anyonefrom Hamasas if more »

Don’t Give Up (Beautiful Child, Other Self)

Don’t Give Up (Beautiful Child, Other Self) ©2014 by Alice WalkerWhat they will pretend not to knowWhen you are injuredIs how ugly you feel now.It is hard to imagine livingWithout a partOf yourself.Every other working arm or legOr eyeOr footNo matter who owns itWill arouse your envy.You will hate yourselfFor this.But no. There is another more »

What They Will Pretend Not To Know

What They Will Pretend Not To Know©2014 by Alice walkerWhat they will pretend not to knowWhen you are injuredIs how ugly you feel now.It is hard to imagine livingWithout a partOf yourself.Every other working arm or legOr eyeOr footNo matter who owns itWill arouse your envy.You will hate yourselfFor this.But no. There is another wayTo more »

Unarmed Truth and Unconditional Love… Happy Birthday, Fidel!

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, though temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.Above photo: Among other beings of light: two ophthalmologists from NYC, Ramsey Clark, former attorney general of the United States, and Dennis Banks, a founder of more »

Letter From Gaza

Letter from GazaEllen CantarowJuly 23, 2014Le Monde diplomatique – English EditionEllen Cantarow reports on the email Dr. Mads Gilbert sent to friends July 19 from Gaza. “The last night was extreme.Gaza 2014 – Guernica 1937,Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro)/Mail & Guardian (South Africa) – July 17, 2014,The email Mads Gilbert, professor of medicine at the University of more »

The Parable of the Sower: What Octavia Butler, Master Visionary, Saw

Many years ago I read Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred, about a time traveller who returns to the past to visit ancestors who were enslaved; because I was apparently born with an ear turned to the lingering whispers of my own ancestors, it affected me deeply. I have now finished listening to my second novel by more »