Thank You, Alice Walker

I stopped reading Alice Walker's work some years ago. I admit to sometimes being a bit dismissive of some of her seemingly "out there" ideas of recent years. But I recently heard a radio interview with her, and was - once again - so impressed with her commitment to important causes related to gender and racial equality, and to alleviating suffering around the world. I started thinking about how important and influential some of her work had been over the years. For example, the novel "The Color Purple," read by so many, spoke so passionately of the pain and destruction caused by prejudice and ignorance. And another novel, "Possessing the Secret of Joy," was one of the very first books to bring wide public attention to the issue of genital mutilation of girls and women in many places in the world, including the United States. These novels, and other works by Walker, remind us of the power of fiction to raise consciousness in a large audience in a way that editorial page essays, or publications of political and social organizations, may not be able to do so widely or effectively. So thank you, Alice Walker, for your tireless dedication to making the world a better and more equitable place.