Slavery was practiced in America in the earlier centuries, Yet Black writers tried to preserve their culture in spite of their struggles and difficulties. A number of movements were started in support of Black women, like the Civil Rights Movement, and the Womens‟ Empowerment movement. Whatever Black Writers wrote came to be known as „Slave Narratives‟. Many writers emerged and a good amount of writing was also published under African-American Literature. The main issues dealt with were „Freedom‟, Equality that was denied‟, the struggle for identity. Alice Walker was one such African-American novelist, short-story writer, essayist who was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her writings. In Search of Our Mothers Gardens is a collection of 36 essays in which she is on a quest to find when and how did she develop an artistic strain, that made her a writer. She tells the story of her mother‟s struggle with work and along with her husband in the fields. In spite of her tirelessly working, she still found time to plant a magnificent garden, which made Alice Walker forget her poverty. So Alice Walker came to the conclusion that the clue to her becoming a writer was in the fact that her ancestors were artistic even though they did not have education. So she felt there was a need to preserve her heritage.
Keywords: Slavery, African-American, poverty, ancestors, heritage etc.
