Gifts of Virtue, Alice Walker, and Womanist Ethics

191 Pages·2010·1.14 MB·English

by  Melanie L. Harris

Black Religion / Womanist Thought / Social Justice
Series Editors Dwight N. Hopkins and Linda E. Thomas
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
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Gifts of Virtue, Alice Walker, and Womanist Ethics
By Melanie L. Harris
Women’s Spirituality and Education in the Black Church
By Yolanda Y. Smith (forthcoming)
Gifts of Virtue, Alice Walker, and
Womanist Ethics
Melanie L. Harris
GIFTS OF VIRTUE, ALICE WALKER, AND WOMANIST ETHICS
Copyright © Melanie L. Harris, 2010.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–0–230–61511–3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harris, Melanie L., 1975–
Gifts of virtue, Alice Walker, and womanist ethics / Melanie L. Harris.
p. cm.—(Black religion/womanist thought/social justice)
ISBN 978–0–230–61511–3 (hardback)
1. Walker, Alice, 1944– —Criticism and interpretation. 2. Walker,
Alice, 1944– —Ethics. 3. Walker, Alice, 1944– —Religion. 4. Spirituality in
literature. 5. Virtues in literature. 6. Values in literature. I. Title.
PS3573.A425Z67 2010
813(cid:1).54—dc22 2010014003
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: October 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
To Survivors
May we all be truly free and live our beauty in wholeness.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Series Editors’ Preface xi
Introduction 1
1 “A Womanist Story”: Alice Walker’s Moral Biography 15
2 A Path Set before Us: Womanist Virtue Method 49
3 Doing the Work: Building a Womanist Virtue Ethic 59
4 Stay on the Path, Walk the Journey: Values to Hold On 89
5 Take Back Your Life: Virtues to Live By 109
6 Third-Wave Womanism: Expanding Womanist
Discourse, Making Room for Our Children 125
Epilogue: The Gifts of Alice Walker 139
Notes 151
Index 173
Alice Walker: Work Cited 177
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Acknowledgments
This book was born from Love. From my mother’s warm embrace,
the glow of her smile, her scholarly mind, and her deep laughing jour-
neys with life. From the steady loving kindness of my brother whose
wise strength and healing light transformed valleys into spaces of
hope. From the breath of my father’s ancestral presence, guiding with
smiles, showering peace, pride, and protection.
To my mother, the Rev. Naomi O. Harris you have in so many
ways breathed life back into my soul. Thank you. In search of your
gardens I found my own. Your daughter loves you. To my brother,
John Jay A. Harris Jr., thank you for being a deep thinker, a builder
of community and an artist of head and heart. You paved a way for
my spirit to take flight. Thank you. I believe in you and I love you. I
am grateful for you, John A. Harris Sr. for the flow of wisdom that
continues to meet me along the river of life. Daddy, I see you. To
Sonia Denise, Keith, Alisha, Nathan and Desmond Dozier for being
a home for my heart, and to the Harris, Wells, Jones, and Perry fami-
lies, thank you for pouring your love, laughter, and prayer into this
journey.
Friendship like water has nurtured this book from the beginning
and lifted me through the process of writing. I accept this as grace
in my life and for each gift I am grateful. To my dear friends and sis-
ters, Kate Ott, Jennifer Harvey, Rebecca Todd Peters, Layli Phillips,
Davina Lopez, Antoinette Kemp, Regina Dotson, Grace White, and
especially, to Cheryl Walker who taught me how to be in the present
moment. To the extraordinary mentors who assisted me during the
initial phase of this project, Emilie M. Townes, Peter J. Paris, Anthony
B. Pinn, Gary Dorrien and Larry Rasmussen. I am especially grateful
to Dr. Townes for her consistent support, to Dr. Paris for reading sev-
eral drafts of this manuscript and to Dr. Larry and Nyla Rasmussen
for serving as midwives as I wrote, and wrote, and wrote! There are