The contents of Kendrick Lamar's critically-acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly include a quotation from Alice Walker's The Color Purple, which in turn has become a banner song for the Black Lives Matter movement. The acclaimed author, appearing on MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber, spoke about the sense of pride she has developed through her association with K Dot and vice versa.
The quote at the center of the discussion is the opening line from "Alright" of: "Alls my life I has to fight." The 1982 book would go onto win the coveted-Pulitzer prize for Literature before it was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, and Margaret Avery.
Alice Walker admitted to the MSNBC host that although she had never heard "Alright," and hence her words spoken in Kendrick's voice, she was nonetheless proud of all accomplishments, which include a Pulitzer prize of his own.
"I'm happy for him," she told the host. "I think he's understanding that is the truth of it. Especially for poor people and people of color in this country. We've had to fight all of our lives. And it's a good thing that we can talk to each other across generations."