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

by Alice Walker

Overview

This gorgeous collection gathers Alice Walker’s wide-ranging meditations—many of them previously unpublished—on our intertwined personal, spiritual, and political destinies. For the millions of her devoted fans, and for readers of Walker’s bestselling 2006 book, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, here is a brand new "gift of words" that invites readers on a journey of political awakening and spiritual insight.

The Cushion in the Road finds the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, poet, essayist, and activist at the height of her literary powers, sharing fresh vantages and a deepening engagement with our world. Walker writes that "we are beyond a rigid category of color, sex, or spirituality if we are truly alive," and the pieces in The Cushion in the Road illustrate this idea beautifully. Visiting themes 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 on 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 will please longtime Walker fans as well as those who are new to her work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595588722
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	04/02/2013
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Alice Walker is one of the most prolific writers of our time, known for her literary fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Color Purple; her many volumes of poetry; and her powerful nonfiction collections, including We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For and The Chicken Chronicles: A Memoir (both published by The New Press). Her advocacy for the dispossessed has spanned the globe. She lives in Northern California.

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

Editorial Reviews

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.)

Publishers Weekly

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

From the Publisher

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
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Library Journal

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.

Kirkus Reviews