Rebecca Walker

Rebecca Walker (born 1969 November 17) is an American feminist and writer. She has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 50 future leaders of America.

Early life

Walker was born Rebecca Leventhal in Jackson, Mississippi to Mel Leventhal, a Jewish American lawyer, and Alice Walker, the African-American author of The Color Purple.

After her parents divorced, she spent her childhood alternating every two years between her father's largely Jewish area in New York City and her mother's largely African-American environment in San Francisco, where she attended The Urban School of San Francisco. When she was 18, she decided to change her surname from Leventhal to Walker, her mother's maiden name.

Formerly, was in a long term relationship with R&B singer Me'shell Ndegeocello. Currently estranged from her mother.

Education and Career

After graduating cum laude from Yale University in 1992, she founded Third Wave Foundation, a non-profit organization aiming to encourage young women to get involved in activism and leadership roles. In its first year, the organization initiated a campaign that registered over 20,000 new voters across the United States. The organization now provides grants to individuals and projects that support young women. Walker is considered one of the founding leaders of Third Wave feminism.

Walker was a contributing editor to Ms. magazine for many years. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including Harper's, Essence, Glamour, Interview, Buddhadharma, Vibe, Child and Mademoiselle magazines. She has been featured on CNN and MTV, and has appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Times, Esquire, Shambhala Sun, among many other publications. She also had a role in the film Primary Colors.

Walker has received several awards for her work, including the Women of Distinction Award from The National Association of University Women, "Feminist of the Year" award from the Fund for the Feminist Majority, the "Paz Y Justicia" award from the Vanguard Foundation, the "Intrepid Award" from the National Organization for Women [1], the "Champion of Choice" award from the California Abortion Rights Action League and the "Women Who Could Be President Award" from the League of Women Voters.

Rebecca lives in Hawaii, and spends much of her time speaking about multicultural identity, enlightened masculinity and intergenerational and third-wave feminism at universities and conferences around the world. She also teaches writing workshops and consults on non-fiction manuscripts.

Walker is the author of four books, To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism; Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self; What Makes A Man: 22 Writers Imagine the Future and her latest, Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence.

Walker has stated that she is "attracted to people irrespective of their anatomy and gender socialization" ([2]).She is currently working on a third memoir, about her travels in Africa.

Books

• To be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (1996) (Editor)
• Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self (2000)
• What Makes A Man: 22 Writers Imagine The Future (2004) (Editor)
• Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence (2007)

External links

• Official site
• Third Wave Foundation
• Excerpt: Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, published December 1, 2000 in The Multiracial Activist
• NY TIMES article - Evalution of a feminist daughter March 18, 2007

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Walker Rebecca Walker

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