C-Span and Book TV did a wonderful interview with Author and Activist Alice Walker.  It was filmed from her home in Berkely, California and covered topics such as the books she has written, love, politics, Earth as divinity etc.  The interview was extensive one lasting almost three hours which included telephone questions and comments.  I have never read any of her books (though the movie The Color Purple is one of my favorites.)  I did find her to be an extrordinary thinker and posess a beautiful spirit.  I definitely plan to read her work!

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/cspan.csp?command=dprogram&record=560312243

On the book tip – Over the weekend I started reading a new book.  Well not new but new for me.  Its called “Parting The Waters”, America In The King Years 1954-63.  This is the first editition of a trio of work done to chronicle the life and times as they related to America and MLK during a span of 14 years.  The first book won The Pulitizer Prize and though it’s close to a thousand pages the information is the best work of a biography that I can ever recall seeing.   Certainly this is the most extensive work done to chronicle the life of Dr. King.  So far in just a few pages I learned the connection of Spellman and Moorhouse Colleges with the philanthropic efforts of John D. Rockefeller.  How MLK’s dad who was an adult with a 5th grade education when he met the future Mrs. King who was a student at Spellman – and because he had to be an educated man to even think of approaching her, (literally) he put himself through school to get his high school equivalency.  Furthermore, upon trying to attend college he miserably failed the college entry exam, but stormed into the president’s office and talked himself into getting admitted anyway.  He did all of this because he was interested in marrying the woman who would give birth to Dr. King.  The whole set up seems quite divine to me in the way it was “orchestrated.”  There is great detail to all the ins and outs, and it reads part like a commentary, part documentary and part scholarly dissertation.  I plan to purchase all three books as they provide a history and detail that I could not imagine let alone have seen before.  I have close to 100 films and documentaries regarding African-American history, but nothing has given me what I have seen so far in the pages of Mr. Branch’s work.  I would recommend these books to anyone who has an interest in the life of Dr. King and America from a perspective not seen or heard often enough.

Quick Bits

Wasn’t it sad to see that poor horse Eight Belles fall to the ground after breaking both legs and have to be euthanized on the spot? 

Tomorrow is the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.  I hope they put us closer to some finality in terms of the Democratic ticket for president. 

Mothers day is Sunday!  Don’t forget to honor the moms in your life.

One of my favorite scriptures: Proverbs 21:2 “All the ways of a man seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.”