When I first encountered the works of Maya Angelou, it was 1980. Mainstream entertainment didn't present her work. I was enthralled with her autobiographies and wanted to talk about them with someone. No one I knew ever heard of Ms Angelou.
She was not on TV or in movies I could find. Finally 2 years later my Mother called to tell me Maya was on PBS! I ran and turned on my VCR and taped her...I was transfixed by her voice and language.. I very highly recommend this documentary and by all means read her books... She is one of my biggest American heroes of all time.. rip..
About the Film
Premiere date: February 21, 2017
Distinctly referred to as “a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture,” Dr. Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) led a prolific life. As a singer, dancer, activist, poet and writer, she inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American thought that pushed boundaries. Best known for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Random House), she gave people the freedom to think about their history in a way they never had before.
The first feature documentary about her life, American Masters – Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, premieres nationwide Tuesday, February 21 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) during Black History Month as part of the 31st season of THIRTEEN’s American Masters series. PBS Distribution will release the film on DVD the same day, with additional bonus features, and on Digital HD February 22.
Oprah Winfrey Network will simulcast Dr. Maya Angelou’s private memorial service in celebration of her legacy. The broadcast begins this Saturday, June 7 at 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT on OWN.
Thursday, May 28, 2014
Statement from Dr. Maya Angelou’s Family:
Dr. Maya Angelou passed quietly in her home before 8:00 a.m. EST. Her family is extremely grateful that her ascension was not belabored by a loss of acuity or comprehension. She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace. The family is extremely appreciative of the time we had with her and we know that she is looking down upon us with love.
Guy B. Johnson
This world lost one of it's very finest voices today. Maya Angelou (Marguerite Johnson) age 86. Maya was one of my most important and influential hero's in my life. She was an incredible human being. Gender and color be damned, Maya was brilliant and when I first learned about her work in 1979 she was not well to the American population. A forward thinking teacher (Kathleen Steele) I had in college gave me her first autobiography.. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings".
Maya's life is an amazing story. Her self absorbed mother Vivian, left her with her strong willed grandmother in Stamps Arkansas to live in the big city. Maya struggled to fit in as a child. She was quite tall and felt gangly.
Maya had a vast and varied career, holding jobs such as fry cook, dancer, actress, poet, educator, and brothel madam. In the late 1950s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she met a number of important African-American authors, including her friend and mentor James Baldwin
She struggled with segregation and racism. Through out her young life, Maya didn't fall victim to hate and self loathing.
Writing all through her life and at age 40 "Caged Bird" became a best seller in 1969. It remained on the list for 2 years. This book was part one of what was to become a 7 part autobiographical series..I have read them all...How Maya never lost hope or faith in her early life was so very inspirational to me as a young girl. Maya was a strong woman, smart, determined and yet forgiving of those who wished ill upon her. Her forgiving nature is what impressed me the most.
Maya was chosen to recite her poem for the Clinton Inauguration and from then she became a very famous star.
After I finished reading her first book, I scrambled to read all of her other books that were released at the time (1980). I talked of nothing but Maya for quite a long time. Then a few years later, my Mom called to tell me that Maya was on PBS that night. I finally got to see her speak on television and I was mesmerized. She spoke exactly the way she wrote. Words and images flowed from her voice just as they did from her typewriter.
I wrote my very first fan letter in 1982 to Ms Angelou and mailed it to her at Wake Forest University..Sometime later, I received a charming reply from Maya. Sadly I didn't save the letters. But I will always remember how she inspired this young girl with her courage in the face of adversity. She absolutely changed this world for the better and I will never forget her. xoK
I highly recommend her books for anyone struggling with life...
THE OBITUARY OF DR. MAYA ANGELOU Dr. Maya Angelou was born to
Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4,
1928. She passed to her Heavenly Reward quietly on May 28, 2014 in her
home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is survived by her son,
daughter-in-law, two grandsons and two great-grandchildren, a nephew, a
niece, grandnieces, great-grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnephews
and a host of beloveds.
From the time she was a child, Dr. Angelou proved
that she was a unique individual with amazing commitment and focus. The
birth of her son when she was seventeen did not prevent her from
continuing in pursuit of her dreams for a creative career. From her
start as a singer in San Francisco’s Purple Onion and Hungry I in 1953
to the installation of her portrait in the Smithsonian National Portrait
Gallery in Washington, D.C. in 2014, she was continuously on a
dramatic, musical or political stage.
She was a dancer, a singer, an actress, a poet, a writer, a magazine
editor, a playwright, a film director as well as a college lecturer,
full Professor and a fearless, outspoken activist. She never let her
various vocations inhibit her activism or her willingness to speak out
against injustice and inequality. She performed in a number of major
productions. She was in both the 1954 International Touring Company and
the subsequent movie of Porgy and Bess. She was also in the 1977
television series of Alex Haley’s Roots and in the 1995 film How to make
an American Quilt. She was in too many other productions to name. She
directed the films Georgia, Georgia and Down in the Delta.
Her
first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was published in 1970. She
went on to write thirty-three other books including autobiographies,
poetry and essays. A number of her works were best sellers and were
published in number of languages.
Throughout her life Dr.
Angelou’s activism never flagged or waned. In 1959, during the height of
the Civil Rights Movement, she headed the New York office of Dr. Martin
Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, she
worked for the Arab Observer News Magazine in Cairo, Egypt, which was
the premiere English language magazine in the Middle East. Later she
moved to Ghana and met Malcolm X.
She returned to the United States to
work for him, but he was assassinated four days after her arrival in New
York. She continued to be voice of humanity, speaking out against
anything that fettered the human spirit. Her life and her body of
literary work trumpet the importance of love, tolerance and forgiveness.
She was a warrior for truth, justice and love.
