I saw an interesting article about Dr. Jamie Walker, a prominent and exciting author/professor/actor/poet and master of the spoken word and progressive thought, as she chronicled an article about a decade ago about another writing and visionary like herself.
By the way, Jamie has been in several plays and movies, working mostly in California, with a bevy of awards for her stage performances in plays by August Wilson.
An HBO movie made in the early 2000s featured Walker performing one of many other documentaries she performed of historic "visionary" elders over the age of 70. Walker’s chosen "visionary" elder in this production was Esther Cooper Jackson," co-founder of Freedomways magazine in 1961 with W.E.B. and Shirley Graham Du Bois.
Freedomways magazine chronicled the Civil Rights-Black Arts Movement and featured several well-known Black writers, poets, and artists, including Elizabeth Catlett, Paul Robeson, Angela Davis, Mari Evans, Ntozake Shangé, and as seen on the above magazine cover, the lovely Lorraine Hansberry. Oh yeah, that literary icon herself, that lovely raisin in the sun.
It was ahead of its time. It opened our time. It opened our eyes to how the world could be defined by those who made that world and created a world out of great adversity and against great power. Will people be called upon to make that choice again soon? Many ask that question in 2010. It just may define the New Year.FreedomWays is out of print thus no website unfortunately. But, you can buy back copies and artful mag covers (like the ones shown here) at Amazon.com, and you can visit Jamie and learn and see more about her at her site www.jamiewalker.org/author.html.
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