About:

A Visit with Maya Angelou

Sunday, Oct 13

4-5 pm CT

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Angelou published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and many plays, movies, and television shows in a celebrated career spanning over 50 years. Her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim and a National Book Award upon its publication in 1969. Hailed as a new kind of memoirist, Angelou was one of the first African-American women to publicly discuss her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and her work has been considered a defense of black culture and is taught in schools and universities worldwide.

Becky Stone as Maya Angelou will open with a song and then will talk about her childhood, her writing in general, and specifically, her writing of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She will close with a recitation of "Still I Rise." After the presentation, Maya Angelou will field questions from the attendees. Then scholar Becky Stone will field questions from attendees about Angelou and her research process.

Scholar bio:

Becky Stone was born and raised in Philadelphia. She currently lives near Asheville in Western North Carolina. She earned her undergraduate degree at Vassar College in Drama with a minor in French. Her M.A. is in Elementary Educational Counseling from Villanova University. She worked for seven years for the Philadelphia School System as a counselor and taught theater for 10 years at a classical Christian school in Fletcher, NC. Becky has been a Chautauqua scholar since 2003 when she first researched and presented Pauli Murray for the Greenville (S.C.) Chautauqua. Her other characters are Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker, and “Stagecoach Mary Fields. Becky continues to act in theater. More often she is on stage as a storyteller at festivals, libraries, and schools.

HND Value Statement

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Humanities North Dakota. However, in an increasingly polarized world, we at Humanities North Dakota believe that being open-minded is necessary to thinking critically and rationally. Therefore, our programs and classes reflect our own open-mindedness in the inquiry, seeking, and acquiring of scholars to speak at our events and teach classes for our Public University. To that end, we encourage our participants to join us in stepping outside our comfort zones and considering other perspectives and ideas by being open-minded while attending HND events featuring scholars who hold a variety of opinions, some being opposite of our own held beliefs.

Humanities North Dakota classes and events are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities