On this day, April 18th, in 1983, the Spelman College graduate Alice Walker wins the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her renowned novel The Color Purple. She has made her mark as the first African American author to win such a prestigious award. In her novels, Walker challenges social norms and negative labels attached to the Black community by refusing to submit to the use of Black vernacular and other stereotypical gestures. Her most famous novel The Color Purple, in its entirety, is a prime example of her dedication to exposing the Black experience, particularly women’s issues and work. This novel has successfully been adapted into a musical and a movie and has accumulated 11 Oscars.
