Margaret Walker Alexander: Poet, Writer, Voice of Civil Rights

photo from wikipedia.com

'Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a bloody peace be written in the sky. Let a second generation full of courage issue forth; let a people loving freedom come to growth.'' (From "For My People" qtd. here)

American poet Margaret Walker (1915-1998) was initially an important part of the Chicago Black Renaissance, which emerged following the demise of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s. Stemming from Chicago's South Side, the Renaissance brought together a notable cadre of well-known writers including Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Arna Bontemps, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Perhaps not as nationally heralded as the Harlem Renaissance, the Chicago Renaissance did not have the same backing by white patrons, and struggled due to the geographic distance from New York City's publishing houses (1). Nonetheless, the Renaissance brought forth a new generation of inspiring writers, fresh talent, and new focus.

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Margaret Walker was raised on a diet of philosophy and poetry. She grew up to earn a Bachelor's degree from Chicago's Northwestern University, and in 1935, she become part of the Federal Writers' Project, spearheaded by president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later, she became part of Chicago's Southside Writer's Project before earning a masters, and later, a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa (2). She would later go on to publish a volume of poetry, For My People, which would later go on to make her the first African American woman to receive an award for poetry in the U.S. By 1966, she had published her only novel, Jubilee, based on the life of her grandmother, which tells the story of the Civil War from the perspectives of a slave family (3). 

Dr. Alexander later settled with her husband and children in Jackson, Mississippi, where she would become a revered professor at Jackson State University. There, she would begin the Institute of the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People, and became its director. She served in that capacity for eleven years. At her death at the age of 83, Alferdteen Harrison reflected on the life of Dr. Alexander to The New York Times, saying "I don't know anybody who has captured the heart and soul of black people any more than she did...She was our model, our mentor. She had shown the way. That was the mark of greatness" (4).