We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For

by Alice Walker

For many readers, Alice Walker's The Color Purple epitomizes literature at its most lucid and spiritually pure. In this collection of meditations, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist shares her thoughts on love, connectedness, world unrest, and corrective measures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry, Essays, Feminism, Spirituality, Social Justice, Politics

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2006

About the author

Noted American writer Alice Walker won a Pulitzer Prize for her stance against racism and sexism in such novels as The Color Purple (1982).

People awarded this preeminent author of stories, essays, and poetry of the United States. In 1983, this first African woman for fiction also received the national book award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland , Meridian , The Temple of My Familiar , and Possessing the Secret of Joy . In public life, Walker worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start this off by saying that I love Alice Walker. She is the older sister I never had. She is also the only writer I buy in Hardback. Even when her hardbacks are 25 and up. This collection of essays and speeches cover the range of what it means to be black, to be human, to be soulful, the unifying of mind and soul with the power of yoga, the wrong doings of the church against children,all children, with a special look at Native Americans and the boarding schools started over 120 years ago with the express purpose of "destroying the Indian, elevating the man". I marvel at the arrogance and ignorance and maliciousness and indifference of some higher ups in America. Also the essays tackle as subject matter the bombing of children, the disabled, old people, men, and women going on around the world by our government with our tax dollars, the horrors of female genital mutilation and on a less popular view point, baby male circumcision. I almost cried when they took my nephew to get his done. He cried for a long time after every time someone tried to change his diaper. Babies have memories. Babies have feeling(s). Also in the essays, the redemptive power of love of people, animals, and the earth. The power of forgiveness, change and vision, the importance of midwives, awakened women, grandmother spirit, Mother Earth. She talks about Che, Castro, Martin Luther King Jr. Mentions Einstein and his quote. "The problems we face today cannot be solved by the minds that created them. Ghandi also comes up, Tubman, Truth.
She is not a perfect human being and I have to say what stopped me reading this book about half way through was when I learned of her estrangement with her only daughter,Rebecca, which I learned about in a review of Rebecca's latest book about Motherhood. She has not met her only grandchild and he in nearing the age of three. Without knowing the details and really a relationship can only really be known by the two people involved, I found myself feeling let down. Giving so much to the world in messages of wholeness, love, and peace and saying such hurtful things via press no less, about your only child makes me sad. She is human. I love her work still. I hope for their sakes they don't leave this earth unreconciled.
Alice is the only writer that I would have speak for me if I had no voice of my own. My deepest truths are expressed in words written by her. No person in my life can claim to really know me if they haven't read any of her words. She comforts me, rallies my spirit, informs me of things and issues that I would know nothing about. I am grateful that I have had the pleasure of reading her for the last 16 years.

[d4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

My tolerance for reading about yoga is low so it speaks to the quality of Alice Walker as a person that I still enjoyed this book. Also, I'm drunk right now, full disclosure. But I'm sure I wouldn't be if I took all the healing advice in this book.

[Dele Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For by Alice Walker Non-fiction. This book is a collect of different speeches that Alice Walker had made during the 2000's decade. There was a lot of change going on at the time, it was good to get a look at that change from the eyes of someone who has been front and center to a lot of changes over the past half century. I've read many of her novels and have appreciated the look she gives the reader at some areas in which we were unaware. The same is true of these speeches. Mainly, she see change coming into our world. Who was going to bring that change? She has come to realize it is us.
If you like taking a look into yourself and the world around you, you'll enjoy Alice Walker's book. You don't have to agree with everything she has to say, just to be open to what she is saying.
A little sidebar, the book's title is a quote from a June Jordan poem.

[Olivia Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book!!!!!!!!!!!! Please everyone go read - Walker speaks to much of the unspoken darkness deep within the history of the US and beautifully sheds light, hope, love, strength, understanding, peace

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

This book is very ~guiding~I found Walkers thoughts on: current and past colonial projects/genocides, war, responsibilities as Americans whose tax dollars fund wars, God/spirituality, love and heartbreak, and I’m missing stuff but oh well…. Really informative and put into words/ideas some the feelings I experience. Not my favorite writing style but I feel grateful for her words regardless. Very timely though I think this was published in 2006.

[Nikita T. Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite quotes:

"Even as I approached the lectern I had no idea what I would say. I was committed, however, to opening my mouth. After that... it was up to a power greater than mine." (8)

"To begin our long journey toward balance as a planet, we have to study the world and its peoples, to see that they are so like ourselves! To trust that this is so. That different clothes and religions do not create people who can escape from humanity. When we face the peoples of the world with open hands, and in honesty and fearlessness speak what is in our memories and our hearts, the dots connect themselves." (10)

"The world is as beautuiful as it ever was. It is changing, but then it always has been. This is a good time to change, and remain beautiful with it." (14)

"When life descends into the pit
I must become my own candle
Willing burning myself
To light up the darkness
Around me." (39)

"Wisdom, however, requests a pause. If we cannot give ourselves such a pause, the Universe will likely give it to us. In the form of illness, in the form of a massive mercury in retrograde, in the form of our car breaking down, our roof starting to leak, our garden starting to dry up. Our government collapsing. And we find ourselves required to stop, to sit down, to reflect. This is the time of "the pause," the universal place of stopping. The universal moment of reflection." (49)

"Suppose someone shot you with an arrow, right in the heart. Would you spend your time screaming at the archer, or even trying to locate him? Or would you try to pull the arrow out of your heart? White racism, that is to say, envy, covetousness and greed (incredible sloth and laziness in the case of enslaving others to work for you), is the arrow that has piercedour collective heart. For centuries we have tried to get the white archer even to notice where his arrow has landed; to connect him-self, even for a moment, to what he has done. Maybe even to consider apologizing, which he hates to do. To make reparations, which he considers absurd.

This teaching says: enough. Screaming at the archer is a sure way to remain attached to your suffering rather than easing or eliminating it." (103)

"War will never make us safe. The only way to end it is by stopping. That is the power we have as a nation; as the most powerful nation, militarity, on Earth. imagine what that would feel like to the world... Only if we can stop the terrorism in our own hearts will we be able to stop terrorism in the world." (173)

"September 11th has demonstrated that America is not immune to the suffering of the world. Karma means we will not avoid reaping whatever we sow." (179)

"Love is not concerned
With whom you pray
Or where you slept
The night you ran away
From home

Love is concerned
That the beating of your heart
The beating of your heart
Should harm
No one." (191)

"But we are a people who have had to suffer for the right to wear our hair as it grows, a prerequisite to loving it, and ourselves, as we are..." (223)

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manifesting works guys 😍😍🌟💫🌟
I have a lot of opinions

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very liberated voice that colours outside of the lines in every way you can imagine. Walker gives us here her thoughts, blog-like and free-floating as likely to burst into poetry (her own or others) as not. Reoccuring themes are life, food, family, culture, justice as well as blackness and at times femaleness.

This is a spirituality anchored in yoga but respectful also of any spirituality ever that has advocated for joy, love and peace. At times Walker seems to contradict herself, at other times she seems to catch herself doing it but is determined not to apologise for writing with an ever-expanding motherly heart rather than with logic. I like logic as a whole so I found her level of freedom difficult to deal with but there was so much light and hope in each luminous sentence that I decided to take the writing as a gift, a sort of medicine for my sometimes too-cynical and overthinking brain. I thought that if Walker has survived seeing so many terrible things and experiencing some of them perhaps and she is not afraid to speak about the darker things (rape, torture, toxic ways of thinking) even as she advocates the simplicity of love as a cure she herself in her beauty is powerful evidence that there is something in her approach.

Walker has been passionate, hardworking, activist. She is not one to sit and ignore the pain in the world and simply dream dreams. I allowed her beautiful words to wash over me, because if it is worth being human at all then it is worth having hope for ourselves and "our" children (all children present and future. Read it not to be persuaded but to be healed. But be prepared also to confront the darkness and the way our ignorance allows it.

If light is wisdom then wisdom is here.

[BookChampions · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not for everyone. But for someone who has been powerfully affected by Walker's work for nearly half his life, for someone deeply interested in both spirituality and politics and peace, Alice Walker speaks right to the soul.

I've read this book several times already, usually just a chapter at a time before bed. Any chapter is a good place to start. Walker makes me think and makes me feel good. She challenges me to act. Actually, I wouldn't have my second cat, Talulah, if not for this book, and its series of speeches and meditations are worth rereading again and again.

This isn't a perfect collection, and her politics will be way out there for some folks, but for the spiritual fodder she continues to offer me, I'm in debt to her.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s incredible… the connection I have felt with Alice Walker’s words was powerful. During the reading of these essays I was moved to tears quite a few times… even though I am not black, even though I can only imagine what it is like being black or Amerindian in the States or anywhere else in the world. Maybe I have been feeling this connection because, as Edward Said says: “One does not have to be a triangle to understand geometry"… or maybe ‘cause I am a woman or because, like Alice writes in the book, since life truly did begin in Africa, “each and every one of us is descended from a single mother of color, an African. A black woman […:]”.

[Alison Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

In dark times and in light, Walker adds an inspirational perspective, a back to basics guide to life. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life, take time to be introspective, to meditate, and above all know the value that lies in forgiving those that have wronged you. I recommend this book often. Walker is conversational, not preachy, personal, rather than riding the high horse of academia. She brings this otherwise heavy conversation into your life, transforms it to a light chat with a friend over coffee.

[b · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compassionate, loving, sobering. Alice Walker left so much wisdom in her words and speeches. I am grateful they're compiled so lovingly here.

The book is certainly dated, and telling as a collection of speeches in the direct aftermath of 9/11. Yet it is dated in the way that you experience the words of an elder who has lived long enough to witness unforgivable injustice, and transmute it into wisdom and love.

Grateful for this book and the healing it has activated in my life.

[margotreynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inflammatory speech rules this collection. For one saturated in a self reflexive life more transparency about her on attention to ecology would make her argument more credible. The piece about appreciating a pause on life is moving, if poorly vetted for logic. Worth reading to come to your own inclusions.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pause. The moment when something major is accomplished and we are so relieved to finally be done with it that we are already rushing, at least mentally, into The Future. Wisdom, however requests a pause.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely poignant and powerful messages that were relevant not only when they were written/spoken but also now more than ever. Walker is such a compassionate writer and speaker, even when talking about the most serious issues, combining anecdote with research and insight to create a new perspective and strong argument. I know these pieces will touch a wide and diverse audience and open up new discussions.

[Carlina Scalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I picked up a lovely reprint of this book at Loudmouth Books in Indy earlier this year. Walker's deep wisdom comes through in every essay and speech, and I love the way that her political and human rights activism is woven together with memoir, poetry, and mindfulness / meditation / compassion practice in these pieces. I am hopeful that this will kick off a deeper dive into her catalogue (and a revisit of The Color Purple, which I haven't read since high school!).

[Lisa Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

In trying to discover voice, anything Ms. Walker writes can be used as a guide. This book is so needed today in its insights into what is a challenge for the world today: racism, oppression, women's rights, the environment. This is not just poetry...it's beautiful prose that both goes to your heart and offers a challenge - if you're willing. This is the time. Now. We can't wait any longer.

[S. Wigget · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was from before her more recent... blatant antisemitism and promoting a batshit antisemitic conspiracy theorist. It's hard to wrap my head around how the author of The Color Purple went in such a direction.

[ky :-) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me feel very seen. I’m usually so confused about how to feel about things because I have a fear of being too passionate, but also a fear of being too lax. I guess this book reminded me that I could just feel how I feel and I don’t need to worry about the level of feeling I’m doing.

[Gina Whitlock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this book. I agree with so many of the indictments against politicians, governments, and racists. Yet Walker seems very bitter and that attitude put me off a little. I think I was looking for a more peaceful book.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays on humanity, the fate of civilization, and the responsibility each person has to make the world a more just place for all. The author combines personal stories and the painful history of various peoples to raise the consciousness of the world and how we either heal or harm the world. The essays draw sharp lines on the ethical behaviors of peoples and governments throughout history. The historical remembrance include up to the events of 9/11/01 and the Iraq war. The critiques on culture, government, self love, and concern for others effectively achieve their goal of forcing the reader to think globally about actions that harm others fore benefit of a few.

[Miranda Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very powerful book that made me think about prejudice, how it can be manifested in so many different forms, and the strength that we have as individuals to combat it. It also has a lot of comments on the state of the world. Of course all this is through very personal stories and speeches that she has given at different events. Would recommend it to anyone that would like to spend some time thinking about the state of the world and what change means to you.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may have been the wrong time for me to finally finish Walker's book. I found it authentic in all the horrible things that blacks have lived through, but it took a long time to get to any dissertation on what we can be today. Definitely, the title is appropriate for all of us - we must live in today to the most we can be.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark (its first edition was written at a similar time), We Are the Ones seeks to inspire hope but, for this reader anyway, didn’t reach that goal from a big-picture perspective. I finished it with no grander insight or new way of dealing with the hopelessness of incompetence in power.

But I liked We Are the Ones better than Hope in the Dark, partially because Alice Walker focuses more on individuals over societies. The thing I enjoy about Alice Walker's writings is that always get me thinking and looking at the world in a different way. Recommended.

[Hemani · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times whimsical and at times heartbreaking for example extreme violence, neglect, torture that native children faced in forced enrollment boarding schools both in the US and Canada are heart breaking.

Walker is at her best when she describes her relationship to Mother Earth and to gardening. Well before young women made a similar proclamation in 2019, Walker declared there should be no more children born until we could eradicate the use of plutonium.

For me, the brightest star in this constellation of ideas:
"When life descends into the pit
I must become my own candle
Willingly burning myself
To light up the darkness
Around me."

[Anastasia Tsekeris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A call to non-violence, global community, reflection of the self, and peace through yoga and other ancestral healing tools. I’m forever inspired by Walker’s ability to look at the atrocities of the world - genocide, war, mutilation - to speak of them in their whole truths, and offer words to bring us towards the end of these practices and ultimately our communal healing. I loved the interspersed poems she shared, especially this one:

“Love is not concerned
With whom you pray
Or where you slept
The night you ran away
From home

Love is concerned
That the beating of your heart
The beating of your heart
Should harm
No one”

[Camille McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who is an activist today needs this book for some "inner light" in a very dark time. Anyone who isn't an activist should also definitely read it. It is a great book because it's very personal, very relevant to today, and it talks about things like the Feminine and anti-capitalism, things that are not usually mentioned in our society. I have incredible respect for Alice Walker, especially after reading this book - I had only read "the Color Purple" and had no knowledge of her as a person, and no idea that she was so political. Well worth reading for everyone.

[Chris]

Intro:
- tale of two cities
- Earth being stolen from us, but our ability to be more aware
-global enlightenment

“ this does not mean we believe, having seen the greater truth of how all oppression is connected, how pervasive and unrelenting, that we can “fix “things” p3

- friendship w June Jordan

- anti war, stories of brother in Korea - youth fighting

“ The world is as beautiful as it ever was. It is changing, but then it always has been. This is a good time to change, and remain beautiful, with it.” P14

1. Three Fates

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This collection of essays covers a whole host of topics, from yoga and Buddhist practice to anti-war to what it means to be Black to connecting with the feminine to midwives and more. It didn't blow my mind the way I hoped it would, but it was still interesting reading from one of the great minds of our time (I love The Color Purple, currently the only other book I've read by Walker). One of the things I appreciated most was the big picture, intersectional way that Walker connects various oppression, from prison systems to war to Palestine.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is comprised of a series of 14 essays, independent of each other, many of which are the texts of talks/speeches given by Alice Walker. Published in 2006, many of the essays were dated much earlier. The sad part is that much of what she said/wrote all those years ago is still relevant/problematic today in 2022. I have read her novels, but this is the first of her non-fiction writing for me. She does rant a bit. She is a woman of strong convictions, which are evident in her writing.