First Film on Writer/Activist Maya Angelou
“Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise”: Chronicles an Extraordinary Life
HAVANA TIMES – In a Black History Month special, we remember the life and legacy of the legendary poet, playwright and civil rights activist Maya Angelou (1928-2014). For the first time, a documentary has chronicled her remarkable life. She was raped as a child and refused to speak for five years. She went on to become an accomplished singer and actress, then worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. After King’s assassination, with encouragement by the author James Baldwin, Angelou penned “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” her first of seven autobiographies.
In 1993 she recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton’s first inauguration. She was the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961.
We air highlights of Angelou’s work and speak to the co-producers and directors of the film, “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” Rita Coburn Whack and Bob Hercules, as well as Angelou’s grandson, Colin Johnson.