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74 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com Civil R ights Leader and Author A ngelou spent the next 24 years living and experiencing a vivid and varied career as an entertainer, dancer and writer. She danced with A lvin A iley in San Francisco, moved to New York City with A ngelopoulous and later moved back to San Francisco when the couple divorced in 1954. She then became a professional nightclub dancer and singer, which led to the recording of her first album, Miss Caly pso, in 1957. In 1959, a novelist convinced her to move to New York City to focus on her writing career, where she joined the Harlem Writers Guild and was published for the first time. A ngelou joined the growing number of young A frican A merican writers and other creatives in support of the civil rights movement as an organizer and fundraiser. In 1961, she met a freedom fighter from South A frica named Vusumzi Make, who moved with her and her son to A frica. Even a half a world away, A ngelou continued to champion civil rights while work ing as the editor of the English week ly newspaper, e Arab Observer, and as a performer. Make and A ngelou would later to move Ghana, where she met and became close friends with civil rights activist Malcolm X . It was Malcom X who encouraged A ngelou to move back to the U.S. to help him create a new civil rights organization in the mid-1960s. During the next four years, A ngelou would work closely with Malcolm X and Martin Luther K ing , Jr., who asked her to ser ve as the Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But A ngelou's light would dim with the assassinations of both men, and she was devastated with the death of Martin Luther K ing , Jr. on her birthday in 1968. From the depression and anguish over their deaths, A ngelou turned to writing. e countless hours would propel her to publish her first autobiography and major work, "I K now Why the Caged Bird Sings," in 1969 at age 41. Over the next 15 years, A ngelou "accomplished more than many artists hope to achieve in a lifetime," according to biographer Marcia A nn Gillespie. She wrote screenplays and soundtracks for films, created short stories and articles, wrote scripts for television shows and documentaries, wrote more autobiographies and poetr y, and produced plays. She received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play "Look Away" and an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the television miniseries, "Roots." She made her directorial debut, authored a cookbook and was introduced to a new generation of women through her long friendship with Oprah, who featured A ngelou on her show and openly talked about the impact her work had on her life. During President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993, she was asked to recite her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" becoming the first poet to do an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost in 1961 at President John Kennedy's inauguration. She would receive over 30 honorar y degrees from institutions of higher learning from all over the world for her work. A ngelou also went back to school, this time to teach, at the Reynolds Professor of A merican Studies at Wake Forest University from 1981 until her death in 2014. A ngelou was a leading force in A merican literature and an icon for A merican women during a time when women were not oen acknowledged as leaders in literature or any field. As a strong representative of the A frican-A merican culture throughout her life, she ser ved as a role model for countless women. Today, she is still mak ing an impact on all A merican women through her literar y works and historical recounts of her civil involvement. Nella DeCesare is a eelance writer and marketer who resides in Southwest Florida NellaDeCesare.com. My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. " "