On February 9, 1944, I was born in Eatonton, Georgia. I was the youngest of eight children in a family of poor sharecroppers. We didn’t have much money, but we made due with what we had and tried to stay positive. My mother worked very hard as a maid trying to provide for my siblings and I. She knew that she couldn't afford to buy us everything that we wanted, but she tried her very best to make sure we had everything we needed. When I was eight years old, I was playing outside with two of my brothers when I suffered an injury that not only affected the way I look, but my self …show more content…
I also became a social worker, lecturer, and a teacher. My experiences in the Civil Rights Movement are what inspired my first collection of poetry, Once. After this poetry collection, my career took off and I published many poems, short stories and novels, including my most famous novel, The Color Purple. This novel won me the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983. Three years later, The Color Purple was made into a movie and later was turned into a popular broadway musical. “I have been an activist most of my adult life, and I believe that learning to extend the range of our compassion is activity and work available to all.”(Alice). I have worked my whole life to be not just a defender of human rights, but of the rights of all human beings, and I hope that my work can inspire many people to do as I have done and stand by those who seek change and transformation of the world.