This summer, I received an email from the Spelman College Honors Program Director, Professor Opal Moore, in which she detailed how award-winning author and activist Alice Walker would be visiting Spelman College in the fall. I did a double-take. I know that famous people visit Spelman College all of the time, but Alice Walker is not just “a famous person.” She is unapologetic in her actions and beliefs, a person that I and other Spelman College students aspire to be. In the email, Professor Moore made the suggestion that students begin reading Alice Walker’s trilogy, which includes The Color Purple, The Temple Of My Familiar, and Possessing the Secret Of Joy, because President Mary Schmidt Campbell planned to have her annual Reading Circle focus on these works. I bee-lined to the nearest Barnes and Noble and began reading.
The President’s Reading Circle is an opportunity for a select group of students to engage, with the President, in a common reading experience. The first reading circle participants read Alexander Hamilton by biographer Ron Chernow— the book that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda’s celebrated Broadway musical, which the students attended the following spring, in New York. One of my Spelman sisters, Skylar Mitchell, detailed her experience to me. She said that Hamilton was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I would be a fool if I did not apply to be a part of the President’s Reading Circle this year. Of the 90 students who submitted essay responses to two question, only 25 were to be selected.
The students met three times in the cozy setting of Reynold’s Cottage to discuss Alice Walker’s novels with selected Spelman College faculty and President Campbell. These meetings gave me a deeper understanding of the novels, and a safe space to voice my thoughts and opinions about the work. The final session was special. We were joined at the Cottage by Alice Walker for an intimate conversation facilitated by Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall. We soaked in her wisdom. Ms. Walker reflected on her Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College experiences, which were both important influences on her as a writer and activist. She gave advice to aspiring writers and student activists. The night ended with Ms. Walker signing journals and copies of her books with an unwavering smile on her face. In that moment, I knew that I had made the right decision in applying for this opportunity.
The President’s Book Circle concluded with a trip to New York City where we attended “The Color Purple” on Broadway. This trip was a very significant part of my experience because I bonded with other Spelman students. We all had a clear interest in literature, specifically literature that focused on women of color, and we were able to connect on deeper levels. My Spelman sisters were giving me advice on what programs I should use to study abroad while we were helping a Spelman sister produce a topic for her Sociology research. We were all helping each other. The next day, we visited the Studio Museum in Harlem, which with Dr. Campbell’s early leadership, became the country’s first nationally recognized Black fine arts museum with a permanent collection, major publications, exhibitions, and artists-in-residence programs. At the Studio Museum, we were able to view amazing works of art while also learning about internship opportunities that the museum had to offer.
Back in Atlanta, I began to reflect on my experience. Yes, Alice Walker signed all three of my books. Yes, Danielle Brooks, who played Sofia, signed my Playbill. Yes, I came to the conclusion that I must move to Harlem upon graduation, but the President’s Reading Circle was bigger than that. It gave me the opportunity to build connections with other Spelman students who I may have never met without this opportunity, while also building a connection with Dr. Campbell and faculty/staff members. The Book Circle discussions revealed, in Alice Walker’s works, the way that art can reveal connections between feminism, womanism, patriarchal oppression, the African diaspora, and so much more. The President’s Reading Circle gave me the opportunity to study works of art and connect them to the world around me, without fear of ,y interpretations being judged or graded, but with the ability to think freely and to develop into my own version of a free-thinking Spelman woman.
Miah Hardy
Spelman College c/o 2019
History Major (US & African American Concentration); Writing Minor