Akasha Gloria Hull facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Akasha Gloria Hull
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| Born |
Gloria Theresa Thompson
December 6, 1944 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
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| Education | Southern University (BA) Purdue University (MA, PhD) |
| Occupation | Poet, educator, writer and critic |
| Spouse(s) |
Prentice Roy Hull
(m. 1966–1984) |
| Children | 1 |
Akasha Gloria Hull (born December 6, 1944) is an American writer, poet, and teacher. She is known for her important work in African-American literature and for being a Black feminist activist. Her efforts helped create and grow the field of Women's studies, especially for Black women.
She taught at universities like the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Delaware. Akasha Gloria Hull has written many books, poems, and articles. Her first novel, Neicy, came out in 2012. Today, she lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Akasha Gloria Hull was born Gloria Theresa Thompson in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was a very bright student. She graduated at the top of her class from Booker T. Washington High School. She also graduated with top honors from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
During her school years, she was a talented pianist and sang in the choir at her church. She was also involved in community groups. She was a secretary for the local chapter of the NAACP, which works for civil rights. She was also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Later, she went to Purdue University. There, she earned her Master's and Ph.D. degrees in English Literature. She married Prentice Roy Hull in 1966, and they had one child, Adrian Prentice Hull.
Career Highlights
Black Women's Studies and Feminism
Akasha Gloria Hull started her teaching career in 1971 at the University of Delaware. By 1986, she became a full professor.
She was part of the Combahee River Collective. This was a group of Black feminists in Boston in the late 1970s. Being in this group helped her focus her work as a scholar and activist.
In 1982, she helped edit an important book called All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies. This book is now a classic in the fields of Feminist Studies and Black Studies. Her work helped bring attention to the lives of Black women. It also helped balance the focus in Feminist Studies, which often centered on white women, and in Black Studies, which often focused on Black men. For this important work, she received the Women of Color Award.
In 1986, Hull published Give Us Each Day: The Diary of Alice Dunbar-Nelson. This was only the second diary by an African-American woman to be published in the U.S. The book shared the life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson. She was a poet and journalist who was less known than her famous husband, Paul Laurence Dunbar.
In 1988, Hull began teaching women's studies and literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Poetry and Books
Akasha Hull's poems first appeared in a journal called Women: A Journal of Liberation in the 1970s. Her poems have been in many other publications and collections since then. These include Flat-footed Truths and Daughters of Africa.
Her book of poems, Healing Heart: Poems 1973–1988, was highly praised. The writer Ntozake Shange called it "the voice of a free, fiercesome, and vivid woman of color."
In 2001, Hull wrote Soul Talk: The New Spirituality of African-American Women. In this book, she explored new spiritual ideas that became popular after 1980. She suggested that politics, spirituality, and creativity were coming together in new ways. Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and writer E. Ethelbert Miller supported the book.
In 2006, Hull moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. She focused on writing fiction. Her short story "Plum Jelly in Hot Shiny Jars" was published in 2003. In 2012, she finished her first novel, Neicy. She described it as a story about "a Black actress going through a lot of love, personal enlightenment."
Public Appearances and Awards
Akasha Gloria Hull has been a main speaker at many university and community events across the United States. She has given lectures and readings at bookstores. She was also interviewed on National Public Radio about poets from the Harlem Renaissance. She has also led workshops on different cultures, spirituality, and self-empowerment.
She has spoken at events like Michigan's Everywoman's Festival and the American Library Association. She has also had conversations with famous authors like Maya Angelou and Alice Walker.
Hull has received many important awards and fellowships. These include awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fulbright program. In 1992, Purdue University gave her an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree. This was for her "pioneering work in the field of black feminist studies."
Spirituality and Name Change
Throughout her life, Akasha Gloria Hull has explored different spiritual paths. These include Southern Baptist Christianity, Rastafari, and Buddhism. She has traveled to many countries, including Brazil, Japan, and Ghana. These experiences have influenced her writing and research.
In 1992, she legally changed her name from Gloria Theresa Thompson to Akasha Hull. Her chosen first name, Akasha, comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "light" or "luminous."
Personal Life
Akasha Gloria Hull married Prentice Roy Hull in 1966. They had one child, Adrian Prentice Hull. They later divorced in 1984.
Selected Publications
- 1982: (Co-editor, with Patricia Bell-Scott and Barbara Smith), All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies, Feminist Press, ISBN: 0912670959.
- 1984: (Editor), Give Us Each Day: The Diary of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Norton, ISBN: 039330311X.
- 1988: (Editor), The Works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, 3 vols, Oxford University Press.
- 1989: Healing Heart, Poems 1973–1988, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, ISBN: 9780913175163.
- 2001: Soul Talk: The New Spirituality of African-American Women, Inner Traditions, ISBN: 978-0-89281-943-0.
- 2012: Neicy: a novel, Little Rock, AR: Aurelia Works, ISBN: 9780988360709
