Noted author, journalist and feminist Rebecca Walker will speak Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.
Walker will discuss “The End of Feminism: Why Feminism as We Know it Must Transform.” The talk, part of the Presidential Forum on Diversity series, is free and open to the public.
Walker, author of the best-selling memoir “Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self,” has written extensively on race, gender politics and the changing face of contemporary American feminism.
Her mother, Alice, is the acclaimed African-American author who won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple. The two became estranged following the publication of the younger Walker’s memoir and their differing views of feminism, among other issues. Her second memoir, “Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood after a Lifetime of Ambivalence,” chronicles the arrival of her son, Tenzin, in December 2004.
Walker’s anthology, “To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism,” has become a staple of women’s studies programs. Her most recent anthology was 2009’s “One Big Happy Family: 18 Writers Talk About Polyamory, Open Adoption, Mixed Marriage, Househusbandry, Single Motherhood, and Other Realities of Truly Modern Love.”
Time magazine named Walker one of the 50 most influential leaders of her generation. She is a contributor to Newsweek and several other magazines. Her essays have appeared in Glamour, Real Simple and Child. She has appeared on “The Today Show,” “Charlie Rose,” CNN, ABC News, “Good Morning America” and “Oprah.”
The College is celebrating the 40th anniversary of co-education at Union, and diversity programs will focus on women and their unique contributions to society. Earlier, author Awista Ayub talked about her efforts to unite Afghani women through sports.