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    The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way

    The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way

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    by Alice Walker

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    Customer Reviews

      ISBN-13: 9781595588869
    • Publisher: New Press, The
    • Publication date: 04/09/2013
    • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 336
    • File size: 667 KB

    Alice Walker (b. 1944), one of the United States’ preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other novels include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, and Possessing the Secret of Joy. In her public life, Walker has worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.
    Alice Walker (b. 1944), one of the United States’ preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other novels include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, and Possessing the Secret of Joy. In her public life, Walker has worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.

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    Brief Biography

    Hometown:
    Mendocino, California
    Date of Birth:
    February 9, 1944
    Place of Birth:
    Eatonton, Georgia
    Education:
    B.A., Sarah Lawrence College, 1965; attended Spelman College, 1961-63

    Table of Contents

    Acknowledgments xiii

    Introduction 1

    Witness: On Barack Obama

    Lest We Forget: An Open Letter to My Sisters Who Are Brave 7

    What I Want: Compassion as a Value 13

    May Whatever We Have Gained, Not Be Lost 17

    Finally It Is Here: Election Day 20

    Dear Brother President (Elect) 22

    What Do I Expect from This Turn of the Historical Wheel 25

    A Letter to President Obama About Torture 28

    Understanding Health Care 34

    Well Done-Obama and the Nobel Prize 36

    For What It's Worth: Some Thoughts on War, Disappointment, and Anger 37

    Why War is Never a Good Idea 43

    The Road of Life

    Human Sunrise 47

    Introducing the Ojibwa Warrior 56

    A Wedding Ceremony: Marrying Good Men 63

    Coming to Mississippi 69

    Saying Good-bye to My Friend Howard Zinn 72

    On The Help 78

    Honoring Cicely Tyson 82

    We Are in This Place for a Reason 86

    Listening to Howie: The Optimism of Uncertainty 91

    MEDITATION: The Settled Mind

    Milagros de la Vida Turtles 98

    Facing La Madre 100

    Giving, as Generously as the Earth 102

    Seeking Counsel from Diego and Frida 104

    Hitting the Mark 106

    The Victory Belongs to Love: So What About Marriage? 109

    The Clarity 112

    Overwhelm 114

    Queen Snows 116

    All the Stars 119

    The Killing of Troy Davis 121

    The G in "Ode to Joy" 123

    Frozen River Is a Moving Surprise 125

    May I Be Frank 126

    ¡Nadie te Quita lo Bailado! 128

    Loving Audiobooks but Not the Segregation of Books and Literature 129

    At Sea on the Audacity of Hope 132

    Stubborn Flowers Climbing 134

    Windows: Discovering Uri Avnery 136

    Reclaiming the Cross 138

    "This is What You Shall Do"

    A Recipe for Difficult Times: Anxiety Soup 146

    Everyone's a Victim 151

    Sisterloss 154

    We Are Remembered for What We Teach 160

    Edwidge Danticat, the Quiet Stream 164

    More Meditation Required! 166

    "We Believe" by Staughton and Alice Lynd 169

    The Inner Listener 172

    From Grandmother's Horse 175

    Free Dogs and the Albany Bulb Waterfront Park 178

    Ending the Age of Waste 180

    The Case of Bradley Manning 185

    Evolution 189

    Bursting into Love 192

    Life Lessons: Gratitude Is My Only Prayer 194

    WANDERING

    The Universe Belongs to Everyone 199

    12 Questions: Korean Women's Soul Questions 205

    Adopting an Orphanage 221

    Coming to See You Since I Was Five Years Old: An American Poet's Connection to the South African Soul 224

    St. John: The Lennonono Grant for Peace Ceremony 238

    About Aung San Suu Kyi, Meditator and Teacher 242

    SOLIDARITY: Letters

    A Letter from Alice Walker to Aung San Suu Kyi 249

    A Letter About Nature From 2005 260

    An Open Letter to Nawal El Saadawi 263

    To Whom It May Concern: With Special Attention to the Prime Minister, Attorney General, and Speaker of the Knesset in Israel 266

    On Palestine

    We Can Offer What We Are 271

    Boycotts Must Happen in the Heart 272

    "You Will Have No Protection" 277

    What Changes the World? Bearing Witness to the Truth 281

    Nothing Is Stronger Than a Circle 286

    The Peace of Nonviolent Resistance 296

    Auntie, I Simply Can't Imagine It! 298

    And So Our Trails Continue 312

    Overcoming Speechlessness 314

    Empathy Is a Wave 343

    To the Freedom Riders of Palestine 346

    The Sanity of Friendship 348

    Onward

    Encountering the Unknown Brazil 355

    Permissions 363

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    The National Book Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple explores our modern world with “compassion, courage, and humor” (Booklist).
     
    Alice Walker once ached for retirement, but in the turmoil of the Democratic primaries and the economic collapse of 2008, she realized she simply had a great deal more to say. Leaving her meditation cushion behind, she found herself traveling the world once again to speak of our intertwined personal, spiritual, and political destinies through ruminations, poems, essays, and letters.
     
    At the height of her literary powers, this revered American novelist, poet, essayist, and activist invites readers on a journey of political awakening and spiritual insight. While visiting subjects she has addressed throughout her career—including racism, Africa, Palestinian solidarity, and Cuba—as well as addressing emergent issues, such as the presidency of Barack Obama and health care, Walker explores her conflicting impulses to retreat into inner contemplation and to remain deeply engaged with the world.
     
    Rich with humor and wisdom, and informed by Walker’s unique eye for the details of human and natural experience, The Cushion in the Road is “a heartfelt response to a new generation’s yearning for public service” (Kirkus Reviews).
     
    “Walker’s concern for the state of humanity and the planet comes through as impassioned and genuine.” —Publishers Weekly
     
    “Quintessential Alice Walker: edgy, demanding, prayerful, loving, and aware. An essential companion for those who wish to be a force for positive change in our perpetually challenging world.” —ForeWord Magazine
     
    “Infused with a quiet grace and gentle resolve to act responsibly.” —Kirkus Reviews

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    Publishers Weekly
    In linking meditation to wandering, the distinguished and prolific Walker, whose books include the Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning The Color Purple, produces a meandering assortment of her ideas and musings between 2008 and 2012 about matters spiritual, political, and personal. Figuring in her diverse and self-absorbed ruminations are, among others, Obama, Hilary Clinton, Dennis Banks, Cicely Tyson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, and John Lennon. The mélange includes her reflections on her favorite films and audiobooks, her officiating at a gay marriage, her own “marriage”—to her cat and dog, her imagining Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s response to the drug cartels, along with her public letters to, among others, Aung San Suu Kyi and Nawal El Saadawi. She notes that her “mentor and teacher” include the Dalai Lama and Amma, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Castro and Mandela. The section “On Palestine”—where Walker recounts her journey to Gaza with Code Pink, her participation in the Freedom Flotilla, and argues for a “one-state settlement”—will likely attract the most attention. Walker’s concern for the state of humanity and the planet comes through as impassioned and genuine, as does her view of the place of meditation in her personal life. Agent: Wendy Weil, the Wendy Weil Agency. (Apr.)
    From the Publisher
    Praise for The Cushion in the Road
    :
    “Walker’s compassion, courage, and humor gain strength and eloquence essay by essay. . . . Media attention will surge for this provocative collection by Walker, a revered writer of conscience.”
    —Booklist

    "The Cushion in the Road is quintessential Alice Walker:edgy, demanding, prayerful, loving, and aware. An essential companion for those who wish to be a force for positive change in our perpetually challenging world."
    —Foreword

    Praise for Alice Walker:
    "Alice Walker is a muse for our times . . . she touches the soul, and propels us to action."
    —Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!

    "A lavishly gifted writer."
    —The New York Times

    Library Journal
    In this collection of articles, letters, lectures, poems, and essays, Pulitzer Prize winner Walker (The Color Purple) reaffirms her role as an activist working for peace and justice. The book opens with an essay expressing her hopes for Barack Obama’s presidency in 2008 and continues with promoting a series of human rights causes, from the controversy surrounding U.S. Army private Bradley Manning and Burma’s political opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to her support for Cuba’s former prime minister Fidel Castro. One of her major concerns remains the plight of the Palestinians, a cause she has long championed. Her impassioned, hard-line approach has alienated some supporters of Israel and caused Walker to be labeled as anti-Semitic.

    Verdict Despite her fiery political views, Walker presents a vision of life filled with prayer, purpose, and commitment that will inspire many. This articulate book will appeal to Walker fans and readers dedicated to political change.—Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
    (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

    e, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

    Kirkus Reviews
    In a new collection, Walker (The Chicken Chronicles, 2012, etc.) once again shows herself to be a deep and compassionate participant in global humanitarian efforts. Beginning with a meditation on the promise wrought by the first inauguration of Barack Obama, the author's essays, poems and letters are infused with a quiet grace and gentle resolve to act responsibly. Although now in her 60s and looking forward to a time to "withdraw from the worldly fray," Walker was prodded off her meditation "cushion" in Mexico by world events and sent flying to far-flung places in the world that required her keen, writerly eyewitness. For example, one essay was inspired by finding herself in Cape Town, South Africa, as a juror at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. She also headed to Gaza with CODEPINK and the Freedom Flotilla II, and she composed another essay about her "overcoming speechlessness" after the horrors witnessed in Rwanda and Eastern Congo. Brave, resilient and upbeat, Walker offers unbending meditations on injustice wherever she has met it. The "womanist" author explains why she supported Obama over "Mrs. Clinton" ("if he wins the presidency we will have not one but three black women in the White House…none of them carrying the washing in and out of the back door") and offers reflections on her early teacher Howard Zinn and her early work for the freedom movement in Mississippi. Walker's "recipe[s] for difficult times" provide a heartfelt response to a new generation's yearning for public service.

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