title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR. MAYA ANGELOU
WHEREAS, God has called from our midst Dr. Maya Angelou on May 28, 2014; and
WHEREAS, Maya Angelou was an African American poet, author, singer and dancer; and
WHEREAS, She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry and was credited with movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years; and
WHEREAS, born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928 (Maya Angelou) was the second child of Bailey Johnson and Vivian Johnson; and
WHEREAS, her older brother Bailey Jr, nicknamed Marguerite "Maya" derived from "My" or "My Sister"; and
WHEREAS, during the 1950's she took up modern dance classes and met choreographer Alvin Ailey, with whom she formed a dance team, calling themselves "Al and Rita," and performed modern dance at fraternal black organizations throughout San Francisco; and
WHEREAS, beginning in 1954 she began to dance professionally in clubs around San Francisco where she sang and danced calypso music under the name of Marguerite Johnson but at the suggestion of her managers changed it to Maya Angelou, a distinctive name that set her apart and captured the feel of her calypso dance performances; and
WHEREAS, in the 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked Maya Angelou to organize a march but before it could take place Dr. King was assassinated on her 40th birthday, it devastated by this loss she was encouraged by her friend James Baldwin to write about her pain; and
WHEREAS, She wrote, produced and narrated Black, Blues, Black a ten part series of documentaries about the connection between blues music and black Americans' African heritage for National Education Television, the precursor of PBS; and
WHEREAS, In 1969 addition, she wrote her first autobiography, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which brought her international acclaim and recognition; and
WHEREAS, during the 1970's Maya Angelou worked as a composer, writing for sin...
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