There are certain books--or better said--memorable aspects of certain books that remain with you throughout the years; even if you never pick up the book to reread it again. Back in the 80's my favorite Alice Walker books were The Third Life of Grange Copeland and In Love and Trouble; (I believe that I was attracted to the thought-provoking title of the latter even more than the contents!) Like many international others, I also loved The Color Purple, even though not more than The Third Life...
Yet aspects of The Color Purple--both the book and the movie--have remained firmly in memory over the years--the fact that Alice Walker lived here in Brooklyn in a lovely brownstone, but at a certain point in the writing of The Color Purple, her main character insisted that she leave New York and go to a more rural environment so that she (the character) could more freely and comfortably unfold her story through Walker's psyche. So she sold the brownstone--(wonder who's living in it now and if they know the story)--and off she moved to California to an environment that was more like the Southern terrain the character desired.
While this may sound far-fetched to some, those who are writers, particularly novelists, are acquainted with how characters take over one's writing and insist on telling the story in their own way despite "the best laid plan of mice" and writing humanity.
Beyond the enduring love of sisters across the centuries and across continents, another memory-clinger of The Color Purple for me was the line, (paraphrased here), that God gets "pissed off" when you walk pass the color purple and don't even notice it. That always stayed so intimately close to my memory; as a poet/artist who frequently admires the vast and colorful creations of the Supreme Master Artist, since that reading whenever I pass a flower in brilliant bloom in the color purple, I take a moment to silently remark, "That's truly beautiful, Divine Artist."
Lately in expanding beyond storytelling and writing to creating digital art, I have taken this noticing of the color purple (and myriad other colors) a step further by pulling together digital photography to celebrate and lift its rich and royal beauty. Here, for your enjoyment--(hopefully), blog readers, is my latest digital art creation (iPhoneography) entitled Noticing the Color Purple.
As a storytelling, I have penned a work of storytelling history entitled FREE GLOBALLY! - The International Underground Railroad and just recently I found that Alice Walker has a book out whose characters are Black Indians in Mexico. My nonfiction characters are the Black Seminoles and their freedom colleagues, the Native American Seminoles. It was a pleasure to get the Walker book from our beloved Brooklyn Public Library. Will launch into the reading of it as soon as I finish the lengthy volume I also got there on the Buffalo soldiers. Hmm, noticing the color purple--lifting the African Indians and then our common Georgia roots, it's no wonder this master thinker and master novelist's words have sometimes repeated themselves in this ancestral storyteller's psyche over the decades.
Well, Sister Alice, wherever you are, this flower art is dedicated to you--and to that character--(Was it Celie?)--who pressured you to give up that Brooklyn brownstone and move to a greener, more open nature space. It must have been quite worthwhile as I see you've got another book out on the personalities of your chickens! Since I'm a historian and an ancestral storyteller, I'll focus on this work on Black Indians first--and then onward to those spirited chickens' stories 'cause my folks also had quite a number of those little creatures back home in Georgia and Tennessee--although they were more prized for their fried, barbecued, and baked flavor than for their distinctive personalities!
In closing, I remember also from back in the 80's that my generous, poetic sister buddy, Mae Jackson, used to give me so many nice cultural gifts that I bought quite a number of your books and sent them to her as a surprise. She wrote to tell you that she and her sister friend, Linda, would be spending our summers in a rocking chair reading your works. You took the time from your obviously hectic schedule to write back to Mae and humorously stated that it would most likely be a bit crowded with you, me, and your books in that rocking chair. We fondly recall that...and yes, after all of this time, I am still noticing the color purple and never failing to compliment the Master Artist on its rich and royal beauty.
(P. S. Blog readers, these are all Brooklyn-born flowers with the exception of the floral arrangement (top, left) which was artfully done by a volunteer Flower Committee member at the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple in Manhattan. With the photos having been all taken with my trusty and efficient l'il iPhone, I also enhanced the SRF floral arrangement via the use of artistic apps. Also for those interested the title of the Walker novel on the Black Indians in Mexico is By the Light of My Father's Smile.)
copyright (c) L. Cousins-Newton 2013
