Maya Angelou, and still I rise

This finely crafted biography portrays the extraordinary Maya Angelou (1928-2014). She was a singer, dancer, actress, civil rights activist, and poet, perhaps best known for her 1969 work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, her remembrance of growing up poor and black in rural Stamps, AR. Archival films and still photos allow Angelou to tell much of her story in her own words, augmented by interviews with her son Guy Johnson and a very few of the many people she inspired and influenced. These include Cicely Tyson, Oprah Winfrey, and Hillary and Bill Clinton, for whom she wrote "On the Pulse of Morning," which she read at Clinton's first presidential inauguration in 1993. One of the best in the American Masters series, this film is exhilarating. VERDICT A must-have for general video collections. [See Trailers, LJ 1/17.]-Cliff Glaviano, -formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 9 Up--Dr. Angelou undertakes much of the narration. The film covers her earliest memory at three years old through her poetry reading at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration to tributes at her death in 2014. Angelou took on roles from singer and actor to political activist, before and while finding her voice as a writer. Those she mentored and motivated pay tribute to her in interviews throughout. For students who study Angelou's works, and anyone interested in her influence on literature, poetry, and American thought.