The Mango Tree: Alice Walker joins Dr. Selina Tusitala Marsh in Conversation [F]
Alice Walker is an amazing women and human being. Every thing she had to say was deeply profound and yet sounded strangely familiar. Her words resonate with wisdom.
I was planning on busing to town but the time on my laptop deceived me, so I drove. After parking I bumped into Laura at the Whitcoulls intersection — another fellow student of Selina’s — and we made our way to Aotea Centre, just in time too. After a heartfelt standing ovation from the audience and a wonderful introduction from Selina Tusitala Marsh, Alice Walker spoke on all matters of the heart, ranging from personal life events to the overcoming of global hardships with all that implies; communication anxiety, fear and impatience, weapons of mass destruction, links to evolution, spiritualism, and avenues for gaining knowledge and how the banning of books is a direct attack on the growth of human intelligence. Following from this, Ms. Walker mentioned to a disbelieving crowd that her book “The Colour Purple” is currently banned in North Carolina, which is nuts — A book!
Ms. Walker also spoke about the significance of meditation in her life and the lost art of self-reflection in our society of instant distractions and noise; how the seed of any revolution must be born from a tender heart for it to resonate with any truth; what it means to hurt from personal pain and the value of knowing your own — here Alice Walker made a reference to a John Lennon song I’m sure was either “Mother” and/or “I Found Out” ~ “Can’t do you no harm to feel your own pain” — to be compassionate to one another, and how unhappiness is a deep-seeded repercussion of us ignoring and not following our individual callings in life. Her metaphor being, it’s absurd to think you can tell a mango tree to produce anything other than mango. There were a lot of laughs and Selina did a terrific job at coaxing stimulating answers with her incredibly well-informed questions. It was interesting to see their sharing of thoughts. I wish I had a notepad on me or a dictaphone, because that was a really great interview with two special women of conviction. To paraphrase Selina (who I’m certain was paraphrasing someone else, was it Walt Whitman?); Alice Walker, you are indeed a living poem in the flesh. Aren’t we all.
Look at me, all wordy. I can’t say I do much justice trying to review their talk, but like the hundreds of people who attended today, I heard every word.
