Commentary: " A Talk: Convocation 1972".
Alice Walker is very passionate about her view of black women in the present and past. She has a deep appreciation for her ancestors and what they, as she believes, have given her. Walker writes in awe of several black women writers, whose works have changed her perception of life and her writing career as well. The beginning paragraphs of the passage, "A Talk: Convocation 1972" states that she had no idea of what to say and that she would just speak from the heart. This gives the reader the impression that what she is about to say is very emotional and will obviously be a heart driven message. Walker's overall theme in the passage is that black women who understand their culture and ancestral past have a duty to spread that information and change society, linking the past to the future. Walker communicates this theme, mainly by alluding to black writers and through irony. .
Walker begins her talk by revealing that studying black women writers has "enriched" her life, enriched being a very strong and carefully chosen word. Walker began to embrace black women writers after she came in contact with Mrs. Hudson, who made her intrigued in the way a woman could be courageous and fight back against a force of evil like the KKK. Mrs. Hudson's effect on Walker is tremendous in that she inspired her thirst for learning more about the women of her heritage. Mrs. Hudson's life communicated through her autobiography was the embodiment of what Walker wants express to the reader. Walker then talks about the first African American poet, Lucy Terry, whose birth and death according to Walker are unknown. This should not be taken literally as there is information available on the life of Lucy Terry. Terry's writings are of 18th century African American culture, however few people know about her or of her writing. She is part of the cultural heritage Walker is trying to revive and inspire others to do also.
