Back in 1982, Alice Walker published her genius novel "The Color Purple." That book would make her the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The same work would go on to change the nation by enlightening the minds and opening the hearts of millions of people who had no understanding of the beauty and horrors that came with Black life in Georgia during the 1900s, while simultaneously allowing those who knew that life very well, and what it took to survive during those times, to be seen. Steven Spielberg's acclaimed 1985 film adaptation starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover — a box office hit that garnered 11 Academy Award nominations — has become an American classic.
And now the story has been brought to stage and screen by a new generation of performers. Danielle Brooks, who plays Sofia in the new musical film adaptation, opened up about her personal connection to Walker's creation — and about the power of community, representation and telling the complete American story — on a recent episode of "Salon Talks."
