In her 1974 essay “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” the writer, activist and poet Alice Walker illuminates the hidden creative worlds of her ancestors, positioning them as unsung heroes. Dominant narratives of Black womanhood and the requirements of daily living, she argues, have long obscured these everyday sanctuaries in Black women’s lives. 

But Walker insists that “our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see.” While “in search of my mother’s garden,” she writes, “I found my own.” 

How might we uncover these hidden and heroic spaces in our own histories? Walker’s words will accompany us as we attend to those selfsame gardens in our lives and communities.

Text: Alice Walker’s In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens 

Date: Thursday, July 30th

Location: Rengstorff Park, Mountain View, CA with Erika & Peter