Tags: Activists

Andrew Goodman

- Friday, May 29, 2015 No Comments

Andrew Goodman was an American civil rights activist, murdered at a young age by members of the Ku Klux Klan. This biography of Andrew Goodman provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.

Andrew Goodman was an American civil rights activist, murdered at a young age by members of the Ku Klux Klan. He was a bright young student with an inherent goodness and a strong sense of commitment towards social activism. His parents were devoted supporters of social justice and equality which also influenced him to become involved in social and political activism at an early age. Being an activist, he volunteered to take part in the Freedom Summer campaign to register blacks to vote in Mississippi, where he met fellow social activists, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. After being chosen to investigate the case of a fire attack on a Mississippi church, the three men traveled to Mississippi together where they were later killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, the organization which was also responsible for burning the church. After the FBI was able to uncover the true story behind trio’s disappearance, some criminals were convicted but only with the charge of civil rights violation. Decades later, under the constant pressure of media and with new evidence coming to light, the mastermind behind their killings was sentenced for imprisonment. Although Andrew had a short life span, he was able to create a very unique and special place in the hearts of people around the world. He was a selfless person and his unconditional sacrifice continues to serve as an inspiration to generations of social and political activists.

Childhood & Early Life

• He was born on November 23, 1943, in New York City, to Robert Goodman and Carolyn Goodman. He was the middle of three sons, other two being Jonathan and David.
• His family, as well as the community in which he was raised, were devoted to intellectual and socially progressive activism.
• He received his early education from the progressive Walden School. In 1958, as a high school student at Walden, he participated in the ‘Youth March for Integrated Schools’, held in Washington D.C.
• Afterwards, he enrolled at the Honors Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but soon withdrew after contracting pneumonia.
• Then he attended the Queens College, New York City where he initially planned to pursue dramatics as his subject. Later, he was drawn towards anthropology and switched to it.
• In 1963, he joined the march on Washington and also protested at the 1964 World's Fair as a Queen’s College student.

Later Life

• In the summer of 1964, he volunteered for a special program to help African Americans in Mississippi. He was selected for the program and journeyed to Ohio for his training.
• In Ohio, he met other fellow activists, Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney. Along with them, he started his work on the ‘Freedom Summer’ project whose main objective was to register African Americans to vote in Mississippi. Along with the initiative of helping the black population to vote, the campaign also focused on providing them some educational opportunities.
• Schwerner and Chaney, who worked for Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) committee, were told to investigate an attack on Mount Zion Methodist Church, a black Mississippi church that had been recently burned by the Ku Klux Klan. He volunteered to join them in the investigation and the three of them traveled to Mississippi.
• On June 21, 1964, when they were on their way to the CORE office in Meridian, the three men were arrested for over speeding by the Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price (a Klan member). The trio was released later that night from the Neshoba Jail.
• As per the FBI investigations, it was stated that Price followed the trio after releasing them and re-arrested them before they were able to cross the border into Lauderdale County. Price then drove them to a deserted area on Rock Cut Road and handed them over to other Klan members. Klansmen then murdered the trio and dumped their bodies in an earthen dam.
• The disappearance of the trio made headlines and eventually President Lyndon Johnson handed over the case to FBI. FBI agents found the trio’s burned vehicle and their fatally shot bodies in the earthen dam. Eighteen men were charged for their roles in the case, but only seven men were ever convicted, that too for civil rights violations, not murders.
• With confession from a James Jordon, a Klan member involved in the killings, the seven convicts were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to ten years. Price was also one of the convicts with a six years imprisonment.
• Later Jerry Mitchell, an award winning journalist, found new witnesses and pressured the State to take action which led to the first murder prosecution in this case. In 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, the mastermind behind this manslaughter was found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison for these killings. Killen is currently serving his punishment.

Awards & Achievements

• In 2014, Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were selected by President Barack Obama to be the posthumous recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Personal Life & Legacy

• In 2002, a 2,176-foot peak in the Adirondack Mountains town of Tupper Lake, New York, was officially named after him as the ‘Goodman Mountain’.
• His legacy and ideas are passed on to next generations through the ‘Andrew Goodman Foundation’, which is promoted around the world by his brother David.

Tags: Activists

Ammon Hennacy

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Ammon Hennacy was an Irish American pacifist and social activist prominently known for his work as a Christian anarchist. This biography of Ammon Hennacy provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.

Ammon Ashford Hennacy was an Irish American pacifist and social activist prominently known for his works as a Christian anarchist. In his early adult years, he was an atheist and a supporter of big government. He passionately espoused socialism and the international union movement. His views were so extreme that he claimed to be in training to kill capitalists. However, his beliefs underwent a radical transformation after a two year prison sentence for resistance to the draft in World War I. After he organized a hunger strike among the prisoners, he was placed in solitary confinement. The only available book was the Bible and he completely renounced his former views and became a pacifist. After coming out of imprisonment, he voluntarily lived a life of poverty so that he would not have to pay taxes, some of which were used to support the military. He fasted and picketed in protest of the death penalty and the use of taxes in war. He referred to himself as a ‘Christian anarchist’ based primarily on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. He lived a life of simplicity and believed in what he called his ‘One-Man Revolution’ against violence, sin, and coercion. He refused to support war or capital punishment and denied to pay taxes, working tirelessly for the homeless and indigent and for world peace. His life was an exceptional journey of self-awakening.

Childhood & Early Life

• He was born on July 24, 1893 in Negley, Ohio to Quaker parents, Benjamin Franklin Hennacy and Eliza Eunice Fitz Randolph.
• He was raised as a Baptist by his parents. But in 1909, when he heard the popular evangelist Billy Sunday preach, he became an atheist.
• Shortly afterwards, he became a socialist and an ‘Industrial Workers of the World’ member.
• In 1913, he attended Hiram College in Ohio for one year. Then, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1914.
• In 1915, he became a student of Ohio State University for a year, marking the end of his formal education.

Later Years

• In 1917, he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment in Atlanta, Georgia because of his refusal to register with his local draft board, in protest of World War I.
• While in prison, he was allowed only one book, The Bible. Reading the Bible changed the outlook of the hitherto atheist and made him a Christian pacifist. He led a hunger strike which resulted in his solitary confinement for eight months.
• He read the Bible repeatedly during his solitary confinement and concluded that the only way to follow Jesus' advice was to become a ‘Christian anarchist’ and launch a one man revolution.
• After coming out of prison, he and his first wife traveled to all of the 48 contiguous states in 1921.
• In 1925, he deliberately worked as a common-day laborer – picking cotton or other such field work because poverty was a way to avoid paying taxes. He felt that taxes funded the war efforts which he so strongly disapproved.
• In 1931, he became a social worker in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and organized a union for social workers.
• Between 1942 and 1953, he worked as a migrant farm worker so that he would earn very little money and thus not have to pay taxes to the government.
• In 1952, he was baptized as a Catholic by an anarchist priest, with Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert, as his godmother.
• In 1953, he moved to New York and became an editor for the ‘Catholic Writer’ newspaper which helped him to refine his thoughts and writing skills.
• In 1954, he published his life story titled ‘Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist’. Several years later, his next book, ‘The Book of Ammon’, was printed in 1965.
• Along with Dorothy Day and other Catholic workers, he led the 1955 civil disobedience action against the compulsory air raid drills for which he was arrested and taken to jail.
• In 1958, he participated in a 40 day fast against nuclear weapons testing.
• In 1970, his last book, ‘The One-Man Revolution in America’, was published posthumously by his wife Joan Thomas Hennacy.

Major Works

• He was a conscientious objector to both World War I and World War II, providing inspiration and courage to others who wished to do the same.
• Through his work with the ‘Catholic Writer’ newspaper, he was profoundly influential in the Catholic Worker movement, which believed that the worth of every human being is guaranteed by God.
• His work with homeless people in Salt Lake City, Utah, was a source of inspiration for social workers everywhere. In 1961, he founded the ‘Joe Hill House’ for the homeless and indigent.
• He selflessly participated in numerous protests, pickets and fasts against the government and all war and violence, refusing even to defend himself.

Personal Life & Legacy

• In 1919, he became the common law husband of Selma Melms. They were blessed with two children. But unfortunately the couple got divorced in 1964.
• In 1965, he married Joan Thomas. The same year, he officially abandoned the Catholic Church, although he continued to consider himself a Christian.
• In 1970, he suffered a heart attack while protesting the execution of two convicted murderers and died three days later on January 14, 1970 at Salt Lake City, Utah.
• His body was cremated and the ashes scattered over the graves of the Haymarket anarchists in Waldheim Cemetery in Chicago.
• After adopting the ideology of a Christian anarchist, he became a vegetarian. He claimed to own nothing and would always give up even his bed when needed by others. His unselfishness was legendary.

Tags: Activists

Amal Alamuddin

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Amal Alamuddin, is a Lebanese-British barrister, human rights activist and philanthropist. This biography gives detailed information about her childhood, life, works, achievements and timeline.

Amal Ramzi Clooney, born Amal Ramzi Alamuddin, is a Lebanese-British barrister, human rights activist and philanthropist. A graduate of Oxford University and New York University School of Law, her long and accomplished career in the fields of international law and human rights have won her international acclaim. Her high-profile clients have included several nation-states, including the country of Armenia in its fight for recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government. Amal Alamuddin became engaged to and married American actor George Clooney in 2014, instantly becoming a household name in popular culture. Years before this, though, she was already well-known and respected in legal circles for consistently representing her clients with skill and success. The scope of her work ranges from tackling social justice and human rights issues to representing several multinational corporations in their negotiations and court actions regarding government regulation. As of 2015, she is a barrister—one type of legal representative in British courts—at London-based Doughty Street Chambers.

Childhood & Early Life

• Born on February 3, 1978, in Beirut, Lebanon, right in the middle of the deadly Lebanese Civil War, Alamuddin moved to London with her family at age 2.
• Her father, Ramzi Alamuddin, is of Lebanese-Druze descent, and worked as a University professor and as the owner of a travel company. Her mother, Bariaa Alamuddin, is a Sunni Muslim and an internationally recognized journalist.
• Amal was raised in the Sunni Muslim faith. She has three siblings: her sister, Tala, as well as two half-brothers via her father's previous marriage, Samer and Ziad. Her pre-college education came at Dr. Challoner's High School.

Career

• Amal attended Oxford University on an Exhibition Scholarship. She graduated from St. Hugh's College at Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence in 2000.
• She attended New York University School of Law beginning in 2001 and graduated with a Masters in Laws degree.
• During her time at NYU, Alamuddin worked clerkships in both the International Court of Justice and United States Court of Appeals.She carried out one of her clerkships in the offices of Sonia Sotomayor, who is today a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
• Amal worked for 3 years for Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City on cases representing Enron and Arthur Andersen, among others.
• She moved to London in 2010 to begin work as a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. Different than a lawyer in U.S. courts, a barrister can speak in court on behalf of clients but does not seek out or work with them directly. That role is held by a solicitor, another type of legal representative.
• From 2010 to the present day, Amal has had a strong but controversial presence in international court proceedings, having represented former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al Senussi in a war crimes trial at the Hague.
• She has served as a special adviser to former U.N. security general Kofi Anaan as well as on several UN human rights investigation and conflict resolution panels.
• Her representation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in his fight against extradition brought her strong recognition in the international law community, even as she had been plagued by controversy earlier in her career.
• Her recent work as of 2015 has been in the field of advocating for the protection of women against physical and sexual violence in conflict zones.

Major Works

• Amal has co-authored the book "The Law and Practice of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon", published in 2013 by the Oxford University Press.
• She has written chapters for several high-profile works on international law, plus countless advisement papers for judges, politicians and corporations from many nations.

Awards & Achievements

• While a student at St. Hugh's College of Oxford, Alamuddin received the prestigious Shrigley Award given for excellence in law studies.
• At NYU, she was presented with the Jack J. Katz Memorial Award, given to the student displaying the highest level of proficiency in the field of entertainment law.
• Amal was appointed special counsel to a United Nations inquiry on counter-terrorism and human rights regarding the use of drones in wartime.
• In 2014, she was offered another position at the UN, this time on a panel investigating war crimes in Gaza. She declined, citing her commitment to her current caseload.

Personal Life & Legacy

• Amal's engagement and subsequent marriage to George Clooney rocked the entertainment media with the news that Clooney, a notorious bachelor, would be settling down.
• The couple's official wedding ceremony took place on September 27, 2014 at Venice, Italy's city hall, though they held a lavish ceremony attended by many celebrities a few days earlier in Venice.
• When not traveling, the Clooneys live in London on a large estate occupying an island along the River Thames. The Clooneys' considerable combined wealth has allowed them the ability to take part in philanthropy work. The issues they share in common include protecting human rights during times of international conflict.

Net Worth

• Amal Clooney's personal net worth is unknown, though entertainment news website Zseek estimates it to be around $2 million. Her husband's net worth is reportedly more than $180 million, though the couple do not make public their financial arrangements since their 2014 wedding.

Trivia

• In 2015, an entertainment reporter asked Amal Clooney what designer label she would be wearing to an upcoming event. Her response of "Ede & Ravenscroft" - the centuries-old maker of official robes and garments for British judges and legal professionals - went viral, and spoke volumes about her stance of being much more than just a famous actor's wife.

Tags: Activists

Alicia Silverstone

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Alicia Silverstone is a popular American actress and activist. Go through this biography to learn more about her profile, childhood, life and timeline.

Alicia Silverstone is an American actress, best-known for her role in the film, ‘Clueless’. She began her acting career from a very young age and went on to become a teenage sensation and an idol. She was also considered to be one of the most ‘appealing’ actresses in Hollywood after she appeared in an Aerosmith music video, as a foxy, rebellious teenager. After her smash-hit performance in the film, ‘Clueless’, she signed a multi-million dollar deal with Columbia-TriStar and also set up her own production company. However, she never seemed to find much success after her film ‘Clueless’, but did manage to catch the attention of critics with her performance as ‘Batgirl’ in ‘Batman & Robin’. She appeared in a number of roles in films of different genres, such as, ‘Beauty Shop’, ‘Stormbreaker’, ‘Excess Baggage’ and ‘Blast from the Past’. Apart from her career in Hollywood, she has also appeared in a television series, ‘Miss Match’ as a matchmaker. She is also active in a number of philanthropic/charitable causes. With absolute hard work and resolve, she has managed to portray herself as the ideal ‘lifestyle’ icon, by promoting veganism and supporting animal rights. She also has her very own cookbook, ‘The Kind Diet’.

Childhood & Early Life

• Alicia Silverstone was born to Monty Silverstone and Deirdre Radford in Hillsborough, California. She has a half-brother and a half-sister from her father’s previous marriage.
• She had a typical upper-middle class rearing and grew up in the town of San Francisco. At the age of 6, she began modeling and consequently appeared in her first television commercial for Domino’s Pizza.
• She studied at Crocker Middle School and San Mateo High School. She earned her first accredited role as a young actress in the show, ‘The Wonder Years’, in 1992, playing the character of ‘Jessica Thomas’.

Career

• She earned the role of a protagonist in the film, ‘The Crush’, which was released in 1993. Her acting garnered the praise of critics and audiences and she went on to win accolades for her role. The same year, she was seen in two of Aerosmith’s music videos, ‘Cryin’ and ‘Amazing’.
• 1993 also saw her acting in the television films, ‘Torch Song’ and ‘Scattered Dreams’. This was followed by her starring in a television film the next year titled, ‘Cool and the Crazy’.
• In 1995, she earned her biggest break as an actress with her role as ‘Cher Horowitz’ in the sleeper hit film ‘Clueless’. She immediately signed a deal with Columbia-TriStar worth $8-10 million.
• The same year, she also starred in the films, ‘Le Nouveau Monde’, ‘Hideaway’ and ‘The Babysitter’, which made 1995 an extremely busy year for the actress.
• From 1996 to 1998, she was cast in the films, ‘True Crime’, ‘Batman & Robin’ and ‘Excess Baggage’. She was also seen as herself in an episode of the television show, ‘Wildlife Vet’.
• In 2000, she was cast as ‘The Princess of France’ for the movie, ‘Love’s Labor Lost’. The same year, she lent her voice for the television shows, ‘Baby Felix & Friends’. Subsequently, she lent her voice once again for the show, ‘Braceface’ next year. She was a recurrent character for both the shows.
• In 2002, she was cast as ‘Natalie ‘Nat’ Bevin’ in ‘Global Heresy’, trailed by a role in the film, ‘Scorched’ the following year. She was also seen as a matchmaker, ‘Kate Fox’ in the show, ‘Miss Match’.
• From 2004 to 2008, she appeared in numerous roles, expanding her repertoire of works. She was seen in movies like, ‘Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed’, ‘Beauty Shop’, ‘Silence Becomes You’ , ‘Stormbreaker’, ‘Candles on Bay Street’ and ‘Tropic Thunder’.
• Around this time, she also did roles in television series’ like ‘Queen B’, ‘Pink Collar’, ‘The Singles Table’ and ‘The Bad Mother’s Handbook’. She once again returned to the world of music videos with her appearance in ‘Her Diamonds’ by Rob Thomas.
• Silverstone has time and again been associated with theater acts as well and she appeared in a theater show titled, ‘Time Stands Still’ from 2009 to 2010.
• 2011 proved to be an extremely industrious year for the actress. She was seen in ‘The Art of Getting By’ and ‘Butter’, two average-rated films at the box-office. She also appeared in a music video, ‘Fight for Your Right Revisited’ by the Beastie Boys.
• From 2012 to 2013, she appeared in ‘Ass Backwards’, a comedy film and is cast in the upcoming films, ‘Angels in Stardust’ and ‘Gods Behaving Badly’.

Major Works

• Alicia Silverstone was cast in the box-office hit, ‘Clueless’, which released in 1995. The movie is roughly based on the novel ‘Emma’ by Jane Austen. The film became a huge success, earning Silverstone a permanent spot in Hollywood and also earning her a multi-million dollar deal. The movie earned $56,631,572 at the box-office and gathered a huge cult-following post-release. The film is also listed at the 42nd position in a list called ‘New Classics’, by the ‘Entertainment Weekly’.

Awards & Achievements

• In 1994, she won the MTV Movie Award for ‘Best Villain’ for her role in the movie, ‘The Crush’.
• She won the American Comedy Award for ‘Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture’ for her role in the hit-film, ‘Clueless’, in 1996.
• Silverstone won the Kids’ Choice Awards for ‘Favorite Movie Actress’ as ‘Batwoman’ for ‘Batman & Robin’, in 1998.
• She was ranked no. 5 in VH1’s list of ’40 Hottest Hotties of the ‘90s’.
• In 2004, she was ranked as ‘Sexiest Female Vegetarian’ by PETA.

Personal Life & Legacy

• She married her boyfriend, Christopher Jarecki on June 11, 2005, after eight years of relationship. They currently live in an eco-friendly house in Los Angeles, with their son, Bear Blu Jarecki.
• She has written a cookbook with vegan recipes, since she is a vegan herself, titled, ‘The Kind Diet’. She plans on writing two more books, ‘The Kind Mama’ and ‘The Kind Diet Cookbook’.
• She is an avid animal rights activist and supports PETA. She is also an environmental activist.
• Apart from politicking, she contributed $500 to Dennis Kuchinich’s presidential campaign and is a supporter of Barack Obama’s administration.

Trivia

• This American actress of the ‘Clueless’ fame, currently owns a sanctuary for rescued pets in Los Angeles.
• This popular American actress was clutched and smooched by Jim Carrey, when she presented the ‘Best Comedic Performance’ Award to him, at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997.

Tags: Activists

Alice Walker

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Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American novelist. This biography of Alice Walker provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline

Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American writer best known as the author of the critically acclaimed novel’ The Color Purple’ which tells the story of a black woman who struggles against not just the racist white culture but also the patriarchal black culture. An independent minded woman and a feminist, Walker is famous for her works which address the issues of gender discrimination, racism, and patriarchy which are rampant in the African-American society. She was born as the youngest daughter of sharecroppers and grew up in poverty. In mid-20th century America’s black children were expected to work in the fields instead of going to school. However, her mother was a strong-willed woman who insisted that her children receive a good education and sent Alice to school. She was a creative girl and started writing at a young age. After high school she went on a scholarship to Spelman College in Atlanta. During this time she became influenced by one of her professors, Howard Zinn, who was also an activist and grew interested in the U.S. civil rights movement. She became a published writer while still in college and over the years established herself as a major author of the Black Arts movement. She is also a prominent social activist in addition to being an acclaimed writer.

Childhood & Early Life

• Alice Walker was born in Putnam County, Georgia, on February 9, 1944. Her parents, Willie Lee Walker and Minnie Lou Tallulah Grant, were sharecroppers. She was the youngest of eight siblings.
• Even though the family was poor, her mother worked hard to ensure that the children received a good upbringing. She worked as a maid to supplement the family income.
• Alice grew up in an era when the children of black sharecroppers were expected to work in the fields at a young age. But her mother was insistent that her children receive a decent education and enrolled Alice in school when she was four years old.
• She was a creative little girl and started writing when she was just eight years old.
• She was accidentally wounded in the right eye in 1952 and a layer of scar tissue formed over her wounded eye. Because of this she became very self-conscious and shy. The scar tissue was later removed when she was 14.
• She graduated from her high school as the valedictorian of her class, and won a scholarship to attend the Spelman College in Atlanta in 1961. She later transferred to Sarah Lawrence College, graduating in 1965.
• In Spelman College, one of her professors, Howard Zinn, was also an activist and he greatly influenced her thinking. Because of him, she became interested in the U.S. civil rights movement and soon became an activist in her own right.
• She wrote her first volume of poetry, ‘Once’ in 1968 while still in college. The poems are based on her experiences during the civil rights movement. The influence of the French philosopher Albert Camus is also evident in her early work.

Career

• In 1968, Alice Walker accepted the position of a writer in residence at Jackson State College and moved to the Tougaloo College in 1970. Later on she became a consultant in black history to the Friends of the Children of Mississippi Head Start program.
• She released her debut novel, ‘The Third Life of Grange Copeland’ in 1970. Set in rural Georgia, it traces the story of a poor sharecropper named Grange, his wife, their son, and grand-daughter.
• In 1976, her novel ‘Meridian’ was released. It tells the story of a student named Meridian Hill who becomes active in the Civil Rights movement. Many believed that the novel was a critique of the path that the Civil Rights Movement had taken in the 1960s and 1970s.
• The year 1982 saw the release of the novel that would make her a world renowned author. ‘The Color Purple’, which revolves around the story of Celie, a poor, uneducated, fourteen-year-old black girl living in the American South, explores the issues of sexism and racism that African American women are subjected to.
• Her novel, ‘The Temple of My Familiar’ was out in 1989. It is a multi-narrative novel containing the interleaved stories of different characters, each of whom is searching for vital elements in their pasts.
• Along with being an acclaimed novelist Alice Walker is also a famous poet, and her poetry collections include ‘Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful’ (1985), ‘Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems’ (1991), ‘Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth’ (2003), ‘A Poem Traveled Down My Arm: Poems And Drawings’ (2003), and ‘Collected Poems’ (2005).

Major Works

• The novel ’The Color Purple’ is undoubtedly the best known of her literary creations. Set in rural Georgia, the story focuses on the miserable quality of life of African-American women in the southern United States in the 1930s. The book was highly acclaimed and earned her several prestigious awards. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.

Awards & Achievements

• Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 for the novel ‘The Color Purple’. She also received the National Book Award for Fiction for the same book.
• She was named the "Humanist of the Year" by American Humanist Association in 1997.
• She is also the recipient of the Lillian Smith Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and Rosenthal Award from the National Institute of Arts & Letters.

Personal Life & Legacy

• Alice Walker met Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal, a white Jewish civil rights lawyer, in 1965. The couple fell in love and married in 1967. They often faced harassment as they were an inter-racial couple. They had one daughter, born in 1969. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1976.
• She was involved in a romance with singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman in the 1990s.

Net Worth

• Alice Walker has a net worth of $300 million.