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Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? is author and poet Maya Angelou's fourth volume of poetry, published by Random House in 1983. It was published during one of the most productive periods in Angelou's career; she had written four autobiographies and published three other volumes of poetry up to that point. Angelou considered herself a poet and a playwright, but was best known for her seven autobiographies, especially her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, although her poetry has also been successful. She began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Many of the poems in Shaker focus on survival despite threatened freedom, lost love, and defeated dreams. Over half of them are love poems, and emphasize the inevitable loss of love. "Caged Bird", which refers to Angelou's first autobiography, is contained in this volume. Background Shaker, Why Don't You Sing is Maya Angelou's fourth volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness. The publication of Shaker, Why Don't You Sing occurred during one of the most productive periods of Angelou's career. She had written songs for Roberta Flack and had composed movie scores. She had written articles, short stories, TV scripts and documentaries, autobiographies, and poetry, she produced plays, and was named a visiting professor of several colleges and universities. Angelou was given a multitude of awards during this period, including over thirty honorary degrees from colleges and universities from all over the world. In 1981, after ten years of marriage, Angelou and her husband Paul du Feu divorced. Angelou returned to the southern United States, where she accepted the lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and taught a variety of subjects that reflected her interests, including philosophy, ethics, theology, science, theater, and writing. Although Angelou considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird, she has been best known for her autobiographies. Many of Angelou's readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second, but like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry. Critic William Sylvester agrees, and states that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention". Bloom also believes that Angelou's poetry is more interesting when she recites them. Bloom calls her performances "characteristically dynamic", and says that Angelou "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases". Angelou's began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of
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Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971) is the first collection of poems by African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. Many of the poems in Diiie were originally song lyrics, written during Angelou's career as a night club performer, and recorded on two albums before the publication of Angelou's first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Angelou considered herself a poet and a playwright, but is best known for her seven autobiographies. Early in her writing career she began a practice of alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Although her poetry collections have been best-sellers, they have not received serious critical attention and are more interesting when read aloud. Diiie is made up of two sections of 38 poems. The 20 poems in the first section, "Where Love is a Scream of Anguish", center on love. Many of the poems in this section and the next are structured like blues and jazz music, and have universal themes of love and loss. The eighteen poems in the second section, "Just Before the World Ends", focus on the experience of the survival of African Americans despite living in a society dominated by whites. Angelou uses the vernacular of African Americans, irony, understatement, and humor to make her statements about race and racism in America. She acts as a spokesperson for her race in these poems, in which her use of irony and humor allows her to speak for the collective and to assume a distance in order to make comments about her themes, topics, and subjects. Critic Kathy M. Essick have called the poems in Diiie "protest poems". The metaphors in her poetry serve as "coding", or litotes, for meanings understood by other Blacks, although her themes and topics are universal for most readers to understand. Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie has received mixed reviews from critics but was a best-seller. Many critics expected that the volume would be popular despite their negative reviews, but others considered it well written, lyrical, and a moving expression of social observation. Background Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie is Maya Angelou's first volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness. Angelou recorded two albums of poetry and songs she wrote during her career as a night club performer; the first in 1957 for Liberty Records and the second The Poetry of Maya Angelou, for GWP Records the year before the publication of her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). They were later incorporated into her volumes of poetry, including Diiie, which was published the year after Caged
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I Shall Not Be Moved is author and poet Maya Angelou's fifth collection of poetry, published by Random House in 1990. Angelou had written four autobiographies and published four other volumes of poetry up to that point. Angelou considered herself a poet and a playwright and her poetry has also been successful, but she is best known for her seven autobiographies, especially her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She began, early in her writing career, of alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Most critics agree that Angelou's poems are more interesting when she recites them. The poems in I Shall Not Be Moved focus on themes of hard work, universal experiences of humans, the struggle of African Americans, and love and relationships. Like most of her poetry, the collection has received little serious critical attention, although most reviews have been positive. Background I Shall Not Be Moved is Maya Angelou's fifth volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of seven, as recounted in her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness. Although Angelou considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird, she has been best known for her autobiographies, and many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry. Critic William Sylvester agrees, and states that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention". Bloom also believes that Angelou's poems are more interesting when she recites them. Bloom calls her performances "characteristically dynamic", and says that Angelou "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases". Early in her writing career she began alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. By the time I Shall Not Be Moved was published in 1990, she had published five autobiographies, eventually going on to publish seven. Her publisher, Random House, placed the poems in I Shall Not Be Moved in her first collection of poetry, The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994), perhaps to capitalize on her popularity following her reading of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. Also in the 1994 collection were her four previous collections, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975), And Still I Rise (1978), and Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? (1983). Angelou's publisher placed four poems in a smaller volume entitled Phenomenal Woman in 1995. Themes Critic Lyman B. Hagen states that much of Angelou's poetry and most of her writings, especially "Worker's Song", the first
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou, features many characters, including Angelou as a child, which she has called "the Maya character". The first in a six-volume series, Caged Bird is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Caged Bird has been categorized as an autobiography, but Angelou utilizes fiction-writing techniques such as dialogue, thematic development, and characterization. She uses the first-person narrative voice customary with autobiographies, but also includes fiction-like elements, told from the perspective of a child that is "artfully recreated by an adult narrator". She uses two distinct voices, the adult writer and the child who is the focus of the book, whom Angelou calls "the Maya character". Angelou reports that maintaining the distinction between herself and "the Maya character" is "damned difficult", but "very necessary". Scholar Liliane Arensberg suggests that Angelou "retaliates for the tongue-tied child's helpless pain" by using her adult's irony and wit. Angelou recognizes that there are fictional aspects to her books – she tends to "diverge from the conventional notion of autobiography as truth". In a 1998 interview with journalist George Plimpton, Angelou discussed "the sometimes slippery notion of truth in nonfiction" and memoirs, stating, "Sometimes I make a diameter from a composite of three or four people, because the essence in only one person is not sufficiently strong to be written about." Primary characters Marguerite Johnson ("Maya") The main character, "an unlikely heroine", from whose perspective the story is told. She has been described as "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America". The book covers most of her childhood, from the age of three, when she and her older brother Bailey are sent to their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, until she was sixteen, when she gives birth to her son Clyde. Through the character of Maya, Angelou uses her own childhood to demonstrate how she was able to survive as a black child in a white-dominated world. Maya is resilient, highly intelligent and loves literature. She goes from feeling shame about her race and appearance to feeling pride, in spite of experiences of racism and trauma. She is raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend and responds by choosing not to speak for five years. She is brought out of her muteness by Mrs. Bertha Flowers, who introduces her to great literature. Annie Henderson ("Momma") Maya and Bailey's paternal grandmother, "a church-going, God-fearing woman whose store is the heart of black socializing in Stamps". She is the most important influence in
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And Still I Rise is author Maya Angelou's third volume of poetry, published by Random House in 1978. It was published during one of the most productive periods in Angelou's career; she had written three autobiographies and published two other volumes of poetry up to that point. Angelou considered herself a poet and a playwright, but was best known for her seven autobiographies, especially her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, although her poetry has also been successful. She began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. And Still I Rise is made up of 32 short poems, divided into three parts. The poems' themes focus on a hopeful determination to rise above difficulty and discouragement, and on many of the same topics as Angelou's autobiographies and previous volumes of poetry. Two of her most well-known and popular poems, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Still I Rise", are found in this volume. She speaks for her race and gender in many of the poems, and again emphasizes the strength and resiliency of her community. Like her previous volumes of poetry, the reviews of And Still I Rise were mixed. The collection's title poem, "Still I Rise", was the center of an advertising campaign for the United Negro College Fund. Two others, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Just For a Time", were previously published in Cosmopolitan. "Phenomenal Woman" was one of Angelou's poems featured in the film Poetic Justice. Background And Still I Rise is Maya Angelou's third volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness. The publication of And Still I Rise occurred during one of the most productive periods of Angelou's career. She had written songs for Roberta Flack and had composed movie scores. She had written articles, short stories, TV scripts and documentaries, autobiographies, and poetry; she produced plays; and she was named a visiting professor of several colleges and universities. In 1977, Angelou appeared in a supporting role in the television mini-series Roots. She was given a multitude of awards during this period, including over thirty honorary degrees from colleges and universities from all over the world. Although Angelou considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird, she was best known for her autobiographies. Many of Angelou's readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second, but like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry. Critic William Sylvester agrees, and states that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention". Bloom also believes that Angelou's poetry was more interesting when she recited it. Bloom calls her
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Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well is a book of poems by American author Maya Angelou, published by Random House in 1975. It is Angelou's second volume of poetry, written after her first two autobiographies and first volume of poetry were published. Angelou considers herself a poet and a playwright, but is best known for her seven autobiographies, especially her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, although her poetry has also been successful. She began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Although her poetry collections have been best-sellers, they have not received serious critical attention. Oh Pray is divided into five parts and consists of 36 poems. The volume is dedicated to "Paul". Like many of Angelou's poems, the poetry in the volume has been characterized as light verse. They contain identifications with ordinary objects and universal identifications. Oh Pray has received mixed reviews from critics; one critic states that the poems in it are best if read aloud. They focus on themes of love, insight, and tension, and on overcoming difficulties. Angelou writes about ordinary objects and experiences, and with deep feelings, about a variety of racial themes and concerns. Background Oh Pray My Wings are Gonna Fit Me Well is Maya Angelou's second volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness. Angelou's film Georgia, Georgia, produced by a Swedish film company and filmed in Sweden, was the first screenplay written by a Black woman, and was released in 1972. Angelou married Welsh carpenter and ex-husband of Germaine Greer, Paul du Feu, in San Francisco in 1973. Although Angelou considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird, she has been best known for her autobiographies. Many of Angelou's readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second, but like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry. Critic William Sylvester agrees, and states that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention". Bloom also believes that Angelou's poetry is more interesting when she recites it. Bloom calls Angelou's performances "characteristically dynamic", and says that she "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases". Angelou began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Her first volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, followed her first autobiography, and
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"On the Pulse of Morning" is a poem by writer and poet Maya Angelou that she read at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993. With her public recitation, Angelou became the second poet in history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration, and the first African American and woman. (Robert Frost was the first inaugural poet, at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy.) Angelou's audio recording of the poem won the 1994 Grammy Award in the "Best Spoken Word" category, resulting in more fame and recognition for her previous works, and broadening her appeal. The poem's themes are change, inclusion, responsibility, and role of both the President and the citizenry in establishing economic security. Its symbols, references to contemporary issues, and personification of nature has inspired critics to compare "On the Pulse of Morning" with Frost's inaugural poem and with Clinton's inaugural address. It has been called Angelou's "autobiographical poem", and has received mixed reviews. The popular press praised Clinton's choice of Angelou as inaugural poet, and her "representiveness" of the American people and its president. Critic Mary Jane Lupton said that "Angelou's ultimate greatness will be attributed" to the poem, and that Angelou's "theatrical" performance of it, using skills she learned as an actor and speaker, marked a return to the African-American oral tradition of speakers such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Poetry critics, despite praising Angelou's recitation and performance, gave mostly negative reviews of the poem. Background When Angelou wrote and recited "On the Pulse of Morning", she was already well known as a writer and poet. She had written five of the seven of her series of autobiographies, including the first and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Although she was best known for her autobiographies, she was primarily known as a poet rather than an autobiographer. Early in her writing career she began alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Her first volume of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie, published in 1971 shortly after Caged Bird, became a best-seller. As scholar Marcia Ann Gillespie writes, Angelou had "fallen in love with poetry" during her early childhood in Stamps, Arkansas. After her rape at the age of eight, which she depicted in Caged Bird, Angelou memorized and studied great works of literature, including poetry. According to Caged Bird, her friend Mrs. Flowers encouraged her to recite them, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed period of muteness caused by her trauma. Angelou was the first poet to read an inaugural poem since Robert Frost read his poem "The Gift Outright" at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961, and the first Black woman. When it was announced that Angelou would read one of her poems at Clinton's inauguration, many in the popular press compared her role as inaugural poet with that of Frost, especially what critic Zofia Burr
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Fielder Cook (March 9, 1923 – June 20, 2003) was an American television and film director, producer, and writer whose 1971 television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story spawned the series The Waltons. Biography and career Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Cook graduated with honor with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature from Washington and Lee University, then studied Elizabethan Drama at the University of Birmingham in England. He returned to the United States and began his career in the early days of television, directing many episodes of such anthology series as Lux Video Theater, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, Playhouse 90, Omnibus, and Kraft Television Theatre. In later years, he directed the television movies Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story, Gauguin the Savage, Family Reunion, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Will There Really Be a Morning?, and others; adaptations of The Philadelphia Story, Harvey, Brigadoon, Beauty and the Beast, The Price, Miracle on 34th Street, and The Member of the Wedding; and episodes of Ben Casey, The Defenders, and Beacon Hill. Cook's credits for feature films include A Big Hand for the Little Lady, How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968), Prudence and the Pill (1968, co-director), From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), Eagle in a Cage, and Seize the Day. Cook died in Charlotte, North Carolina from complications from a stroke. Selected filmography Patterns (1956) Home Is the Hero (1959) The Philadelphia Story (TV movie - 1959) A String of Beads (TV movie - 1961) The Farmer's Daughter (TV movie - 1962) Focus (TV movie - 1962) The Fifty Minute Hour (TV movie - 1962) Brigadoon (TV movie - 1966) A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968) Prudence and the Pill (1968) Hallmark Hall of Fame: Teacher, Teacher (1969) Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall (TV movie - 1969) Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster (TV movie - 1971) Goodbye, Raggedy Ann (TV movie - 1971) Neighbors (TV movie - 1971) The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (TV movie - 1971) Eagle in a Cage (1972) The Hands of Cormac Joyce (TV movie - 1972) From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973) Miracle on 34th Street (TV movie - 1973) Pomroy's People (TV movie - 1973) This Is the West That Was (TV movie - 1974) Miles to Go Before I Sleep (TV movie - 1975) Valley Forge (TV movie - 1975) The Rivalry (TV movie - 1975) Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (TV movie - 1976) Beauty and the Beast (TV movie - 1976) A Love Affair: The Eleanor & Lou Gehrig Story (TV movie - 1978) Too Far to Go (TV movie - 1979) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (TV movie - 1979) Gauguin the Savage (TV movie - 1980) Family Reunion (TV movie - 1981) Will There Really Be a Morning? (TV movie
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The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou is author and poet Maya Angelou's collection of poetry, published by Random House in 1994. It is Angelou's first collection of poetry published after she read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. It contains her previous five books of poetry, published between 1971—1990. Her prose works have been more successful than her poetry, which has received little serious attention by critics. History The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou is Maya Angelou's first collection of poetry. By the time of its publication in 1994, she had published five autobiographies, eventually going on to publish seven, and five books of poetry. She began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Her publisher, Random House, placed the poems of her previous volumes in this collection, perhaps to capitalize on her popularity following her reading of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. The volumes included in the collection are Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975), And Still I Rise (1978), Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? (1983), and I Shall Not Be Moved (1990). Also included was "On the Pulse of Morning". Angelou's publisher placed four previously-published poems in a smaller volume, entitled Phenomenal Woman in 1995. Angelou studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness. Angelou considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird, but she has been best known for her autobiographies. Many of her readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second, but like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry. Critic William Sylvester has stated that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention". Bloom also believes that Angelou's poetry is more interesting when she recites them. Bloom calls her performances "characteristically dynamic", and says that Angelou "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases". References Citations 1983 poetry books American poetry collections Random House books Poetry by Maya Angelou Books by Maya Angelou
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Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim. She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961. With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family and travel. Early life Marguerite Annie Johnson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928, the second child of Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. Angelou's older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed Marguerite "Maya", derived from "My" or "Mya Sister". When Angelou was three and her brother four, their parents' "calamitous marriage" ended, and their father sent them to Stamps, Arkansas, alone by train, to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson. In "an astonishing exception" to the harsh economics of African Americans of the time, Angelou's grandmother prospered financially during the Great Depression and World War II, because the general store she owned sold basic and needed commodities and because "she made
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Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas is the third book of Maya Angelou's seven-volume autobiography series. Set between 1949 and 1955, the book spans Angelou's early twenties. In this volume, Angelou describes her struggles to support her young son, form meaningful relationships, and forge a successful career in the entertainment world. The work's 1976 publication was the first time an African-American woman had expanded her life story into a third volume. Scholar Dolly McPherson calls the book "a graphic portrait of the adult self in bloom" and critic Lyman B. Hagen calls it "a journey of discovery and rebirth". In Singin' and Swingin, Angelou examines many of the same subjects and themes in her previous autobiographies including travel, music, race, conflict, and motherhood. Angelou depicts the conflict she felt as a single mother, despite her success as a performer as she travels Europe with the musical Porgy and Bess. Her depictions of her travels, which take up 40 percent of the book, have roots in the African-American slave narrative. Angelou uses music and musical concepts throughout Singin' and Swingin'; McPherson calls it Angelou's "praisesong" to Porgy and Bess. Angelou's stereotypes about race and race relations are challenged as she interacts more with people of different races. During the course of this narrative, she changes her name from Marguerite Johnson to Maya Angelou for professional reasons. Her young son changes his name as well, from Clyde to Guy, and their relationship is strengthened as the book ends. Background Angelou followed her first two installations of her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) and Gather Together in My Name (1974), with Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas, published in 1976. It marked the first time a well-known African-American woman writer had expanded her life story into a third autobiography. She also published two volumes of poetry: Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975). Angelou had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. It made her, as scholar Joanne Braxton stated, "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". Writer Hilton Als calls Angelou, along with feminist diarirst Anaïs Nin, "pioneers of self-exposure, willing to turn a spotlight on their own sometimes questionable exploits and emotional shortcomings". Angelou, unlike African-American women autobiographers who wrote during the 19th and early 20th centuries, was able to use herself as the main character in her books. Writer Julian Mayfield, who calls I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings "a work of art that eludes description", states that Angelou's work set a precedent in describing "the black experience" in African-American literature. While Angelou was composing her second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name (1974), she was concerned about how her readers would react to her disclosure that she had been a prostitute. Her husband Paul du Feu talked her into
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Paul Benjamin (February 4, 1935 – June 28, 2019) was an American actor. Early life Born to Fair, a Baptist preacher (1890–1950) and Rosa Benjamin (née Butler; 1895–1940) in Pelion, South Carolina, Benjamin was the youngest of 12 children. Benjamin moved to Columbia, South Carolina with an older brother after the death of his parents. Benjamin attended C.A. Johnson High School and later enrolled at Benedict College. Career Benjamin relocated to New York and studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio. He made his film debut in 1969 as a bartender in Midnight Cowboy. After small roles in Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Born to Win (1971), he did extensive television work in the 1970s. A few notable exceptions were a major role in Barry Shear's Across 110th Street (1972), and smaller parts in Shear's western The Deadly Trackers (1973), Michael Campus' The Education of Sonny Carson (1974), Arthur Marks' Friday Foster (1975), Gordon Parks' biopic Leadbelly (1976), and Don Siegel's prison film Escape from Alcatraz (1979). He also performed in the TV adaptations of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979) and Gideon's Trumpet (1980). He later starred in the 1987 HBO movie The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, based on the novel by Robert E. Burns. On the big screen in the 1980s and 1990s, Benjamin worked with some well-known actors and directors. He acted in Some Kind of Hero (1982) opposite Richard Pryor, Martin Ritt's drama film Nuts (1987) starring Barbra Streisand, Pink Cadillac (1989) with Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats (1991), Bill Duke's Hoodlum (1997), and John Singleton's Rosewood (1997). On television, he appeared in the 1988 episode of In The Heat of the Night as a death row inmate and in the 1994 pilot episode of ER, which led to his recurring role of homeless man Al Ervin during the next few seasons. Benjamin also worked on the American Masters documentary of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ralph Ellison, which aired on PBS. He also acted in an episode of the 14th season of Law & Order entitled "Identity" (2003) as well as an episode of The Shield. After 2000, he acted mainly in independent films like Stanley's Gig, The Station Agent, Deacons For Defense, and James Hunter's 2005 drama Back in the Day. Death Benjamin died on June 28, 2019, in Los Angeles at age 84. Filmography Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Bartender - New York The Anderson Tapes (1971) - Jimmy Born to Win (1971) - Fixer Across 110th Street (1972) - Jim Harris The Deadly Trackers (1973) - Jacob The Education of Sonny Carson (1974) - Pops Distance (1975) - Sgt. Elwood Horne Friday Foster (1975) - Sen. David Lee Hart Leadbelly (1976) - Wes Ledbetter One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story (1978) - John LeFlore I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979, TV movie) - Freeman Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - English Gideon's Trumpet (1980, TV movie) - Artis Some
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Maya Angelou, an African-American writer who is best known for her seven autobiographies, was also a prolific and successful poet. She has been called "the black woman's poet laureate", and her poems have been called the anthems of African Americans. Angelou studied and began writing poetry at a young age, and used poetry and other great literature to cope with trauma, as she described in her first and most well-known autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She became a poet after a series of occupations as a young adult, including as a cast member of a European tour of Porgy and Bess, and a performer of calypso music in nightclubs in the 1950s. Many of the songs she wrote during that period later found their way to her later poetry collections. She eventually gave up performing for a writing career. Despite considering herself a poet and playwright, she wrote Caged Bird in 1969, which brought her international recognition and acclaim. Many of her readers consider her a poet first and an autobiographer second, but she is better known for her prose works. She has published several volumes of poetry, and has experienced similar success as a poet. Early in her writing career, she began alternating a volume of poetry with an autobiography. In 1993, she recited one of her best-known poems, "On the Pulse of Morning", at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. Angelou explores many of the same themes throughout all her writings, in both her autobiographies and poetry. These themes include love, painful loss, music, discrimination and racism, and struggle. Her poetry cannot easily be placed in categories of themes or techniques. It has been compared with music and musical forms, especially the blues, and like the blues singer, Angelou uses laughter or ridicule instead of tears to cope with minor irritations, sadness, and great suffering. Many of her poems are about love, relationships, or overcoming hardships. The metaphors in her poetry serve as "coding", or litotes, for meanings understood by other Blacks, but her themes and topics apply universally to all races. Angelou uses everyday language, the Black vernacular, Black music and forms, and rhetorical techniques such as shocking language, the occasional use of profanity, and traditionally unacceptable subjects. As she does throughout her autobiographies, Angelou speaks not only for herself, but for her entire gender and race. Her poems continue the themes of mild protest and survival also found in her autobiographies, and inject hope through humor. Tied with Angelou's theme of racism is her treatment of the struggle and hardships experienced by her race. Many critics consider Angelou's autobiographies more important than her poetry. Although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has been studied less. Angelou's lack of critical acclaim has been attributed to her popular success and to critics' preferences for poetry as a written form rather than a spoken, performed one. Background Maya Angelou studied and began writing poetry at a young age, having "fallen in love with poetry in
Poetry of Maya Angelou
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Robert Duane Loomis (August 24, 1926 – April 19, 2020) was an American book editor who worked at Random House from 1957 until his retirement in 2011. He has been called "one of publishing's hall of fame editors." Many of Loomis's authors had worked with him for decades, including Maya Angelou, who wrote 31 books under his editorship, beginning with her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). His authors' loyalty to him, and his to them, was almost legendary. Loomis represented "the classic mold of the editor" and according to Random House, he "embodied the ideal of an old-fashioned editor: understated, but uncanny; polite, but persistent". As Angelou said, Loomis "knows what I hope to achieve in all my work. I don't know anybody as fierce, simply fierce, but he's as tender as he's tough." He was well known as a mentor to editors and writers in all areas of the publishing industry. Other notable authors who have been edited by Loomis include Calvin Trillin, Edmund Morris (who wrote Dutch, the "controversial" biography of US President Ronald Reagan), Shelby Foote, Jonathan Harr, and anchorman Jim Lehrer. He edited the Vietnam war epic, A Bright Shining Lie, by Neil Sheehan, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and in 1998, the novel he edited for Pete Dexter, Paris Trout, earned the National Book Award, "an unprecedented feat in editing." Loomis and author William Styron had known each other since they were both students at Duke University, where Loomis was Styron's editor at Duke's student magazine. Loomis went on to edit all of Styron's books except Lie Down in Darkness, his first novel. Personal life Loomis was married to Hilary Mills, who wrote a biography about Norman Mailer. He was a certified pilot. Loomis died on April 19, 2020, in Stony Brook, New York, after a fall. References External links Peter Osnos, "Great Book Editors Are Not an Endangered Species", The Atlantic, May 24, 2011. Dan Duray, "Bob Loomis Talks Cerf And Turf Ahead Of His Retirement", Observer, May 31, 2011. American publishers (people) 1926 births 2020 deaths
Robert Loomis
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Frank Joseph Urioste (born April 28, 1938) is an American film editor with about 30 film credits. He has been nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, for RoboCop (1987), Die Hard (1988), and Basic Instinct (1992). Early life Urioste was born to Frank T. Urioste and Angelina "Angie" Saracino (1909-2006). He also has a sister, Carol. His father worked as an airplane bomb sight manufacturer during World War II, and shortly afterwards started at MGM, where he was a music editor for over 30 years. Career Urioste began his career in 1957, when he worked with Henry Mancini at MGM as a music editor. The first film that Urioste edited was What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969). He continued to edit films during the 1970s, such as Midway (1976), Damnation Alley (1977) and The Boys in Company C (1978). Urioste has also worked in television; in 1979, he edited the television film, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In 1974, he edited the film The Spikes Gang. In 1979, he edited Fast Break. In 1983, he edited Amityville 3-D. That same year, Urioste edited Trenchcoat, starring Margot Kidder and Robert Hays. Other films that Urioste edited during the 1980s include Conan the Destroyer (1984), Die Hard (1988) and Road House (1989). He also edited The Hitcher (1986), starring Rutger Hauer. Urioste was nominated for an Academy Award for his editing in Die Hard. Urioste has also collaborated with director Paul Verhoeven in such films as RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990) and Basic Instinct (1992). In 1993, Urioste edited Cliffhanger. That same year, he edited the film, Tombstone. In 1995, he co-edited Cutthroat Island. In 1996, he co-edited the film, Executive Decision, starring Kurt Russell. Urioste used Avid Technology for the first time when he had less than four weeks to edit Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). In addition to film editing, Urioste has been the senior vice president of feature development at Warner Bros. since 1998. Urioste also served on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from 1994 to 1997 and is on the advisory board of the film editors branch of the Academy. Urioste received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award in 2007. Personal life He is married to Gemma Urioste. Together, they have had four children; Rosemarie, Maryan, Michelle, and Frank Jr. He has 10 grandchildren, and all celebrated his lifetime achievement at the Eddie Awards. Filmography References External links American Cinema Editors Living people 1938 births
Frank J. Urioste
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Jerome Louis "J.J." Jackson (born November 8, 1942) is an American soul/R&B singer, songwriter, and arranger. His singing style is as a belter. Jackson best known for the song "But It's Alright", which he co-wrote with Pierre Tubbs. The song was released in 1966 and then re-released in 1969, to chart success on both occasions. The liner notes to his 1967 album, J.J. Jackson, on Calla Records, stated that he weighed 285 pounds. History Jackson was born in Bronx, New York. Described as "one of the most interesting obscure figures of '60s soul", Jackson, then based in New York, started out as a songwriter and arranger. His first songwriting credit, at the age of sixteen, was "The Lord Will Understand (And Say 'Well Done')", being the B-side to "Got A Date With An Angel", a 1957 single by Billy Williams. Jackson co-wrote the song with G. Douglas and M. Brent. The song was banned by the BBC for "religious overtones". Jackson's first single was "Shy Guy", backed with "Time", on Crescent Records and distributed by Fantasy Records, in 1963. Both songs were written by Jackson. Jackson was later a songwriter and arranger for "Brother" Jack McDuff, Jimmy Witherspoon, and the Shangri-Las, among others. His songwriting credits include Mary Wells' "My Mind's Made Up" and "I've Come to One Conclusion" by Inez and Charlie Foxx, both co-written with fellow soul singer Sidney Barnes. Barnes and Jackson became a freelance songwriting team in 1964, at a time when Jackson was known as both a pianist and a songwriter. Barnes had previously been a lead writer, producer and talent scout for the recently opened New York office of Motown Records and Jobete Music. Barnes and Jackson wrote songs for several R & B solo artists of the period, including Sandra Phillips and Billy Prophet, formerly of The Jive Five. Barnes and Jackson also wrote for The Soul Sisters, and became staff writers at Sue Records, one of the few black-owned record labels based in New York at the time. Barnes and Jackson were soon thereafter signed to exclusive contracts with Red Bird Records and Trio Music Publishing, owned by Leiber and Stoller. "It's Easier to Cry", by the Shangri-Las and released on Red Bird Records, was co-written by Jackson, Joe De Angelis and Robert Steinberg. The latter song was the B-side to the Shangri-Las' 1964 hit single "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" By 1965, Barnes had emerged as a solo performer, recording songs written by Barnes and Jackson, including "I Hurt On The Other Side", and "I Don't Know Why". Jackson is best known for the soul hit "But It's Alright" co-written with Pierre Tubbs and which, after its 1966 release as the B-side of the single "Boogaloo Baby", became one of the best known dance music tunes of the decade, reaching No. 22 on the Billboard chart. The single was recorded in the United Kingdom, being one of the first R & B hit singles to have been recorded in England. The
J. J. Jackson (singer)
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Buddy Cage (February 18, 1946 – February 5, 2020) was an American pedal steel guitarist, best known as a longtime member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Popular both as a performer and session musician, he played with many bands and recording artists, including Anne Murray, Bob Dylan, Brewer & Shipley, David Bromberg, and the Zen Tricksters. Musical career Buddy Cage learned to play pedal steel guitar at a young age. By the mid-1960s he was working as a professional musician, both onstage and as a session player for the Arc Records label. When the folk music duo of Ian and Sylvia decided to go electric in 1969, he joined their band, known as the Great Speckled Bird. Great Speckled Bird was part of the Festival Express concert tour in 1970. From 1969 to 1972, Cage also recorded four albums with Anne Murray, and one album with Brewer & Shipley. It was on the Festival Express tour that the New Riders of the Purple Sage became acquainted with Cage. The New Riders were a psychedelic influenced country rock band that had been founded by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, along with John Dawson and David Nelson. The New Riders and the Dead would perform concerts together, with Garcia playing pedal steel for the New Riders, then playing electric guitar and singing with the Dead. After the Festival Express Tour, Cage left Great Speckled Bird and joined the group Hog Heaven, who had for years backed singer Tommy James as the Shondells. (He co-wrote one song on the group's album for Roulette Records.) Near the end of 1971, Jerry Garcia left the New Riders, enabling them to headline their own concert tours. Cage was invited to join the band as Garcia's replacement. Cage was the New Riders' pedal steel guitar player from 1971 to 1982, except for a period of about a year in the late 1970s. The New Riders were quite popular. They toured extensively, and released a number of albums. During this same period Cage continued working as a session musician, recording with various musical artists, including David Bromberg and Robert Hunter. In 1974, Bob Dylan asked him to play on recording sessions for the album Blood on the Tracks. In the years after Cage's departure from the New Riders, he continued working with many different bands and musicians, including Solar Circus, Stir Fried, The Brooklyn Cowboys, the Zen Tricksters, Mike Gordon, Midnight Rain and Bone Alley. The New Riders of the Purple Sage, led by John Dawson, but without Buddy Cage or David Nelson, had continued touring and recording albums from 1982 until Dawson's retirement from the music business in 1997. In 2005, Cage and Nelson re-formed the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The impetus came from sessions Cage did with Stir Fried. They released three albums — Wanted: Live at Turkey Trot, Where I Come From, and 17 Pine Avenue. Cage also worked as a session musician with other artists, including collaborations with
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"I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is the fourth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 14, 2007. For the second time in the series, Marge helps a prison assailant. Marge meets Dwight (Steve Buscemi), a man who attempts to rob the bank the two are in. Marge promises that she would visit him in prison, should he turn himself in, but too frightened to go into the prison, she breaks her promise. It was written by Dana Gould and directed by Bob Anderson. Steve Buscemi makes his second guest appearance on the show, (originally appearing as himself in "Brake My Wife, Please") though this time he voiced a character, Dwight. Ted Nugent has a voice cameo. Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes a surprise guest return as Snake's girlfriend Gloria, who originally appeared in "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love". During its first airing, the episode originally garnered 8.8 million viewers, higher than the previous episode. Plot Lisa is named "Student of the Millennium", so Marge stresses that Homer has to attend her ceremony due to past absences at most of the kids' events. Homer then wakes up early and takes Maggie to the school auditorium. Meanwhile, Marge gets impatient waiting in line at the bank, so she strikes up a conversation with an apparently charming man named Dwight (Steve Buscemi), who then pulls out a gun and tells everyone to get down on the floor, holding the entire bank hostage. Marge privately calls Homer, informing him she is a hostage at a bank robbery. Dwight sees this and cuts off the call. He then makes a deal; he will turn himself if Marge promises to visit him in prison, to which she reluctantly agrees. Homer attempts to convince Marge not to visit Dwight in the prison, but Marge wishes to honor her promise. However, while going to the prison, she makes continuous stops to avoid going to the prison and misses visiting hours. At the prison, Dwight becomes depressed and then angry at Marge's absence, and Marge's guilt begins to get to her while watching a depressing movie about a prisoner who was to be electrocuted. Dwight breaks out of prison, and upon finding Marge's address in a newspaper, sets out to find her. While watching television at home, Marge sees a news report by Kent Brockman on Dwight's escape from prison. Dwight begins stalking her in various places, and successfully catches up to Marge and takes her to the same amusement park where he was abandoned by his mother, with the intention to have Marge help him repay the time he had lost, and promises to let her go afterward, to which a sympathetic Marge agrees. He and Marge then ride the Viking ship ride together. Chief Wiggum arrives attempting to save Marge, but he is caught in the ride. Dwight jams the ride's gears by throwing in
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Downloading the Repertoire is a 1996 novelty album by American singer John "Jack" Mudurian (May 23, 1929 – September 30, 2013). Mudurian was a resident of Duplex Nursing Home in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1981, David Greenberger, an employee who also edited the zine The Duplex Planet, overheard Mudurian singing at a home talent show, and when Greenberger spoke to him about it, Mudurian boasted that he could sing as many songs as Frank Sinatra. Greenberger brought in a cassette tape recorder and asked him to sing; Mudurian proceeded to sing 129 songs, many from the Tin Pan Alley repertory (and several more than once), continuously over the next 47 minutes. The recording was issued as Downloading the Repertoire on Arf! Arf! Records in 1996, and it became a cult novelty hit. Neil Strauss, writing about the recording for The New York Times, wrote: "What is most interesting about this CD is not Mr. Mudurian's slurred, rushed singing but the way his entire life story unfolds in his selection of material." In a review for AllMusic, Cub Koda commented: "[Mudurian's]... free association from tune to tune is downright astounding. No matter what kind of music you might have in your collection, it's a good bet you don't have anything that sounds quite like this." A reviewer for CMJ New Music Monthly described the album as "a hysterical, bizarre tour through the history of American popular song." A shortened version of the music heard on Downloading appeared on Irwin Chusid's compilation of outsider music called Songs in the Key of Z, Vol. 1. Mudurian can also be heard on the compilations The Talent Show (1996), and The Tarquin Records All Star Holiday Extravaganza (2000). After meeting Mudurian, singer Jad Fair transcribed his version of "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)" and performed it in his own live shows. According to Greenberger, the nursing home at which Mudurian resided closed in 1987, and the two lost touch. Greenberger, who affectionately referred to the marathon recording session as "Jack's and my private Olympic event," recalled: "That June afternoon lives on for me. Planes flew overhead, birds chirped in the trees and another resident... could be heard singing in the background from time to time." Songs sung on Downloading the Repertoire (in order of songs sung) Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) It's Been a Long, Long Time Why Am I Always Yearning for Theresa The Halls of Montezuma So Long It's Been Good to Know You Step Right Up (and Help Old Uncle Sam) It's Only a Paper Moon Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In) Take Me Out to the Ball Game Some Sunday Morning Any Bonds Today? Red River Valley My Bonnie Jimmy Crack Corn The Wabash Cannonball I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now Ramona Toot Toot Tootsie! (Goo' Bye) If You Knew Susie Like I Know Susie I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me) I'll See You in My Dreams Lucky Me I Don't Know Why
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"Sympathy" is an 1899 poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar, one of the most prominent African-American writers of his time, wrote the poem while working in unpleasant conditions at the Library of Congress. The poem is often considered to be about the struggle of African-Americans. Maya Angelou titled her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from a line in the poem and referenced its themes throughout her autobiographies. Background Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was an American poet. Born to freed slaves, he became one of the most prominent African-American poets of his time in the 1890s. Dunbar, who was twenty-seven when he wrote "Sympathy", had already published several poetry collections which had sold well. He was hired to work as an attendant at the Library of Congress on September 30, 1897, but the experience was unpleasant and strained his declining health. He wrote "Sympathy" at least in part because he was feeling "like he was trapped in a cage" while working there. Alice Dunbar Nelson, Dunbar's wife, later wrote in a 1914 article that: "Sympathy" was first published in 1899 in Dunbar's poetry collection Lyrics of the Hearthside. He had previously published a poem also titled "Sympathy" in 1893. Text I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals – I know what the caged bird feels! I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting – I know why he beats his wing! I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, – When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings – I know why the caged bird sings! Reception The literary critic Joanne M. Braxton considers "Sympathy" to represent Dunbar as a "mature" poet who is finding his own voice as a poet and distancing himself from "the imitation of European models". The poet Carol Rumens described the poem as "an almost unbearably painful lyric." She concludes her analysis by saying that "Dunbar's parents had known the agony of being slaves; Dunbar understands that there are other kinds of cages for their children." In The Cambridge History of African American Literature, the scholar Keith Leonard described "Sympathy" as following Standard English norms and felt that its "celebration of nature" was "common to Romantic poets" but
Sympathy (poem)
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The Bedford Reader is a college composition textbook published by the Bedford/St. Martin's publishing company. It is edited by X. J. Kennedy, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron. It is widely used in freshman composition courses at colleges across the United States. The eleventh edition of the book is composed of over seventy essays, one short story, and one poem. It is divided into eleven sections by the various methods of development: narration, description, example, comparison and contrast, analysis, process analysis, classification, cause and effect, definition, argument and persuasion, along with a section on mixing the methods. Famous works and authors Numerous essays and stories by noted authors are included in The Bedford Reader. These include: An excerpt from Maya Angelou's I Know why the Caged Bird Sings "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson "Shooting Dad", the essay that made Sarah Vowell famous An essay by Dave Barry "Remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa", from David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day Jessica Mitford's "Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain" David Foster Wallace's commencement speech for Kenyon College, "This Is Water" An excerpt from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma Judy Brady's "I Want a Wife" Gloria Naylor's "The Meanings of a Word" Richard Rodriguez's "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" An excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle John Updike's "Extreme Dinosaurs" Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech Edward Said's "Clashing Civilizations?" (Said's response to Samuel P. Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations") George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" Suzanne Britt's "Neat People vs. Sloppy People" Brent Staples's "Black Men and Public Space" "Dance of the Hobs". by William Least Heat-Moon The text quickly became a standard in college composition courses across the country. Because of the diversity of works and authors, The Bedford Reader has become popular among Advanced Placement English teachers, specifically those teaching to the AP English Language and Composition test. External links Book description at Bedford-St. Martin's site Textbooks
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Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake is a 1991 television special based on the children's television show Sesame Street. In the special, Big Bird celebrates his sixth birthday. The special aired on PBS stations during the week of March 9, 1991 as part of the PBS pledge drive season. On March 15, the special was re-aired as the Sesame Street episode "2835", with additional inserts from previous episodes added and the pledge break scene removed. Plot Snuffy visits Big Bird's nest in the morning so he can be the first to wish Big Bird a happy birthday. During the opening credits, the two head out down the street as Big Bird's friends wish him a happy birthday, then everyone sings about "Big Bird's Beautiful Birthday Bash" in the arbor. The Monsterpiece Theater sketch "The King and I" is repeated from a previous episode. Big Bird and his friends will go to the Wollman Rink in Central Park for his skating party, and Maria and Susan will stay behind to decorate. Snuffy also wants to stay behind because he doesn't know how to roller skate, so Big Bird will teach him how to skate. Robin Williams shows Elmo the fun things he can do with a stick. Everyone enjoys skating at the rink, but Snuffy is not sure he wants to learn how to skate because he fears falling. Big Bird is finally able to convince Snuffy to learn, until someone falls in front of them. The song "We Are All Earthlings" follows. Maria and Susan lay out Big Bird's cake, then go to their apartments to find more chairs. Cookie Monster finds Big Bird's cake and realizes he can't eat it, so he finds other things to eat, starting with the chairs and the table. Grover sings "Monster in the Mirror" along with several celebrities. Monster on the Spot reporter Telly Monster asks if The Count will support his public television station. The Count recites a long list of reasons why, leading to a pledge break. Snuffy, still afraid of falling, tries to leave the rink. Telly asks Luis where Oscar the Grouch is. Oscar and Bruno are skating at the party because he loves falling down when skating. Bruno skates around without falling, but the skating made Oscar dizzy. Whoopi Goldberg and Hoots the Owl talk about being proud of their body parts. Big Bird impresses Snuffy with a rollerskating routine, but he can't skate like Big Bird. Big Bird and friends sing "Put One Foot in Front of the Other", which helps Snuffy skate around the rink. Cookie Monster has eaten everything around him, and when Susan and Maria come back, they take the cake away from him. The Oinker Sisters sing "A New Way to Walk", repeated from a previous episode. Everyone returns to the street and notices that almost everything has been eaten. Big Bird's friends give him his cake, sing "Happy Birthday To You", and then Big Bird blows out all the candles
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"I Wonder Why" is a doo-wop song, written by Melvin Anderson with lyrics by Ricardo Weeks. The song was first recorded by Dion and the Belmonts. Background It is sung from the point of view of a man telling his girlfriend that he loves her but does not know why. The song is noted for Carlo Mastrangelo bass part. Chart performance "I Wonder Why" was released as Laurie Records' first single, (number 3013), and was the group's first national pop chart hit, in 1958. The song went to number 22 on the Hot 100. Popular culture The song was used in the film A Bronx Tale The song was in the pilot episode of the television series The Sopranos. John Carpenter's adaptation of Stephen King's Christine. A cover was sung by Nicolas Cage in Peggy Sue Got Married. The Rock-afire Explosion parodied the song for use in ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants. Cover versions The Chiffons covered the song on their 1963 album One Fine Day. A cover was also sung by Showaddywaddy in 1978, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. Australian band Ol' 55 covered the song on their album, Take It Greasy (1976). References 1958 songs 1958 debut singles Dion DiMucci songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Doo-wop songs Laurie Records singles 1978 singles Showaddywaddy songs
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Letter to My Daughter (2009) is the third book of essays by African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. By the time it was published, Angelou had written two other books of essays, several volumes of poetry, and six autobiographies. She was recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and had become "a major autobiographical voice of the time". Angelou had no daughters herself, but was inspired to write Letter as she was going through 20 years of notes and essay ideas, some of which were written for her friend Oprah Winfrey. Angelou wrote the book for the thousands of women who saw her as a mother figure, and to share the wisdom gained throughout her long life. Letter consists of 28 short essays, which includes a few poems and a commencement address, and is dedicated to "the daughter she never had". Reviews of the book were generally positive; most reviewers recognized that the book was full of Angelou's wisdom and that it read like words of advice from a beloved grandmother or aunt. One reviewer found the book's essays both homespun and "hokey". Background Letter to My Daughter is Maya Angelou's third book of essays. She had published several volumes of poetry, including Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She had recited her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning", at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. In 2009, when Letter was published, Angelou had published six out of her seven installments of her series of autobiographies. Her sixth autobiography, A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), was considered her final autobiography until she published her seventh autobiography, Mom & Me & Mom, in 2013, at the age of 85. By the time Letter was published, Angelou had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. She was, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". She had also become, as reviewer Richard Long stated, "a major autobiographical voice of the time". Angelou was one of the first African-American female writers to publicly discuss her personal life, and one of the first to use herself as a central character in her books. Writer Julian Mayfield, who called her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, "a work of art that eludes description", stated that Angelou's series set a precedent not only for other Black women writers, but for the genre of autobiography as a whole. Overview Angelou came up with Letter to My Daughter, which became a New York Times bestseller, while going through old boxes of notes and papers full of concepts for future books and poems, which she called "WIP" ("Works in Progress"). She found twenty years worth of notes written to her friend Oprah
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Caged Bird may refer to: Caged bird, a bird kept in a birdcage "Caged Bird", a song by Alicia Keys on her 2001 album Songs in A Minor "Caged Bird" (Wonderfalls), a 2004 episode of the TV dramedy Wonderfalls The Caged Bird, a 1913 American silent short drama film "Caged Bird," a poem by Maya Angelou (not be confused with her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)
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For the Love of Art and the Making is an album by Danish progressive metal band Beyond Twilight. The album is one song split into 43 parts. According to Finn Zierler, there are another three hidden tracks that complete the album's concept. To date, said tracks have not been identified. Furthermore, the order of the track list on the album is not the actual one. Since the album is divided into 43 parts, the listener is able to arrange the parts in any order they regard as logical. Track listing "In the Eyes of My Soul" (first movement) – 0:49 "Creep Evil" – 0:59 "Sleeping Beauty – The Journey" – 1:30 "Purity" – 1:48 "Sleeping Beauty – Connected" – 1:28 "Tongue Angel" – 1:22 "I Moved" – 1:27 "Blackened In My Eyes" – 2:14 "Temptations" – 0:19 "Fiery Woman" – 0:38 "Sweet Irony" – 0:22 "Conversation of the Dead" – 0:16 "The Perfect Heart" – 0:59 "The Perfect Heart Part II – Think" – 0:36 "The Key – Imagine" – 0:09 "The Perfect Heart Part III" (modulated instrumental) – 0:28 "The Black Widow" – 0:27 "The Key Part II – Naked Truth" – 0:10 "The Kiss of the Wind" – 0:18 "Dark Wild Rage" – 2:41 "Temptations Part II – Return" (modulated) – 0:12 "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" – 1:18 "Cold as Blue" – 0:32 "The Awakening" – 0:22 "Cold as Blue – Like a Candle You Start to Drip" – 0:23 "Bilingues Cavendi – One Should Beware of the Double-Tongued" – 0:09 "The Awakening Part II – The Smile" – 0:19 "The Awakening Part III – Opening the Curtains To a Beautiful Sunny Morning Watching the Singing Birds" – 0:20 "In the Eyes of My Soul" (first movement modulated with irony) – 0:20 "Past the Magic" – 1:13 "Past the Magic Part II" (rhythmic laughter) – 1:13 "Nightwandering on Needles" – 0:20 "In the Eyes of My Soul" (second movement modulated with irony) – 0:19 "In the Eyes of My Soul" (second movement) – 1:03 "6 Seconds Past 6" – 1:20 "Organ Scientistic Formula (1)" – 3:00 "Nightwandering on Needles Part II – The Answer" – 0:24 "6 Black Roses - Ship of Rowing Slaves" – 1:05 "Autumn Fog Message" – 1:34 "Sleeping Beauty Returns - The Black Box of Reverse (Forward)" – 0:22 "The Black Box of Reverse" – 1:10 "In the Eyes of My Soul" (third movement) – 0:33 "In the Eyes of My Soul – For the Love of Art and the Making" (finale)" – 1:21 Personnel Finn Zierler – keyboards Björn Jansson – vocals Anders Ericson Kragh – guitar Jacob Hansen − rhythm guitar Anders Devillian Lindgren – bass Tomas Fredén – drums, percussion Additional musicians Truls Haugen - vocals Michael Eriksen - vocals Torben Vistisen - vocals References 2006 albums Beyond Twilight albums Massacre Records albums
For the Love of Art and the Making
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an American television film based on the autobiography of the same name by Maya Angelou, first aired April 28, 1979, on CBS. Angelou and Leonora Thuna wrote the screenplay, and the movie was directed by Fielder Cook. Constance Good played the young Maya Angelou. Also appearing were Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, and Madge Sinclair. Filming took place in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The movie traces Maya's life from when she and her brother move in with their grandmother to the trauma of being raped as a young girl by one of her mother's boyfriends and the several years of silence that came after the attack. Two scenes in the movie differed from events described in the book. Angelou added a scene between Maya and Uncle Willie after the Joe Louis fight. In it, he expresses his feelings of redemption after Louis defeats a white opponent. Angelou also presents her eighth-grade graduation differently in the film. In the book, Henry Reed delivers the valedictory speech and leads the black audience in the Negro national anthem. In the movie, Maya conducts these activities. Cast (in credits order) Paul Benjamin as Freeman Diahann Carroll as Vivian Ruby Dee as Grandmother Baxter Roger E. Mosley as Bailey Sr. Esther Rolle as Momma Madge Sinclair as Miss Flowers Constance Good as Maya Angelou John Driver as Bailey Jr. (as John M. Driver II) Sonny Jim Gaines as Uncle Willie Art Evans as Principal J. Don Ferguson as Mr. Donleavy Georgia Allen as Mrs. Gurney Darryl Antony Williams as Tommy Valdon (as Darryl Williams) Tonea Stewart as Lillie (as Tommie Stewart) Monica Kyles as Julie Rick Salassi as Parmenian (as Richard Salassi) Lewis Liddell as Tommy Sammy Liddell as Ira Sylvester Spann as Tutti Myra Jo Arvin as Red Mose Lee Williams as 1st Mrs. Fletcher Frankie Mitchell as 2nd Mrs. Fletcher M.L. Breeland as Mr. Peters Angela Brown as Kitty Abbie Burns as Mary External links 1979 television films 1979 films 1970s biographical drama films CBS films Films based on biographies Films directed by Fielder Cook African-American biographical dramas 1970s English-language films Maya Angelou American drama television films 1970s American films
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (film)
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Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy? is a 1921 "readymade" sculpture by Marcel Duchamp. Specifically, Duchamp considered this to be an "assisted Readymade", this being because the original objects of which the work is made up had been altered by the artist. They consist of a birdcage, 152 white cubes (resembling sugar cubes, but made of marble), a medical thermometer, a piece of cuttlebone, and a tiny porcelain dish. The birdcage is made of painted metal and contains several wooden perches. The Philadelphia Museum of Art displays the original as part of the Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection. Several replicas exist, made by Duchamp, but only in the original are the cubes stamped "Made in France". Explanation About the sculpture, Duchamp said: "It is a Readymade in which the sugar is changed to marble. It is sort of a mythological effect." An explanation for the piece given by Duchamp involves the coldness of the marble cubes, the "heat-giving" properties of the sugar cubes, the thermometer evaluating temperature, and the sneezing that can result from cold. In commenting on the title Duchamp pointed out that there is a "dissociation gap" between sneezing at will and sneezing against one's will. André Breton wrote about Why not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy?: "I have in mind the occasion when Marcel Duchamp got hold of some friends to show them a cage which seemed to have no birds in it, but to be half-full of lumps of sugar. He asked them to lift the cage and they were surprised at its heaviness. What they had taken for lumps of sugar were really small lumps of marble which at great expense Duchamp had had sawn up specially for the purpose. The trick in my opinion is no worse than any other, and I would even say that it is worth nearly all the tricks of art put together." See also List of works by Marcel Duchamp Rrose Sélavy References External links The Writings of Marcel Duchamp, by Marcel Duchamp, Michel Sanouillet, Elmer Peterson; Da Capo Press, 1973 Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy? at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Works by Marcel Duchamp 1921 sculptures Sculptures in Pennsylvania Found object
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"The Three Little Birds" (German: De drei Vügelkens) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 96. The story is originally written in Low German. It is Aarne-Thompson type 707, the dancing water, the singing apple, and the speaking bird. The story resembles Ancilotto, King of Provino, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola, and The Sisters Envious of Their Cadette, the story of the 756th night of the Arabian Nights. Synopsis Three sisters were tending cows when a king and his company went by. The oldest pointed at the king and said she would marry him or no one; her sisters pointed at the ministers and said the same. The king summoned them before him, and then, because they were very beautiful, he married the oldest and his ministers married the youngest. The King had to go on a journey, and had her sisters attend the queen. She gave birth to a son with a red star on his forehead. Her sisters threw the baby boy into the water, and a bird sprang out of the water singing of what they had done. Despite the bird terrifying them, the sisters told the king that the Queen had given birth to a dog. Little did everyone know, a fisherman fished the boy out of the water and raised him. The King said that whatever God had sent was good. It happened again with their second son, and sadly their third child, the King and Queen's daughter. However, instead of saying the Queen had given birth to a third dog, the sisters said that she had given birth to a cat. This forced the Kings hand and he threw his wife into a prison as punishment. One day, the other boys would not let the oldest fish with them, because he was a foundling. So he set out to find his father. He found an old woman fishing and told her she would fish long before she caught anything. She told him that he would search long before he found his father, and carried him over the water to do it. The next year, the second boy set out in search of the brother, and he fared the same as his brother had. The next year, the girl set out as well, and when she found the woman, she said "May God bless your fishing." The old woman gave her a rod and told her to go to a castle, bring back a caged bird and a glass of water, and on the way back, strike a black dog with the rod. She did it, found her brothers on the way, and when she struck the dog, turned it into a handsome prince. They went back home to the fisherman. The second son went hunting and, when he grew tired, played a flute. The king heard this and found him. He did not believe he was the fisherman's son, so the second son invited him home. There, the bird sang
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"The School Boy" is a 1789 poem by William Blake and published as a part of his poetry collection entitled Songs of Experience. These poems were later added with Blake's Songs of Innocence to create the entire collection entitled "Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul". This collection included poems such as "The Tyger", "The Little Boy Lost", "Infant Joy" and "The Shepherd". These poems are illustrated with colorful artwork created by Blake first in 1789. The first printing in 1789 consisted of sixteen copies. None of the copies of Songs of Innocence are exactly alike as some of them are incomplete or were colored in posthumously "in imitation of" other copies. "The School Boy" is a poem written in the pastoral tradition that focuses on the downsides of formal learning. It considers how going to school on a summer day "drives all joy away". The boy in this poem is more interested in escaping his classroom than he is with anything his teacher is trying to teach. In lines 16–20, a child in school is compared to a bird in a cage. Meaning something that was born to be free and in nature, is instead trapped inside and made to be obedient. Poem transcription What does it mean? First stanza: The school boy wakes and sees the sound of birds pleasant. It seemed to him as if the skylark is singing with him. All of these was such a sweet company to him. Second stanza: The school boys spent their days in utter despair under the thread of teacher's presence. Stanza three describes school, how when home-schooled you can sit happily and read. At school, there is no freedom; you will learn what you are told to learn, nothing more, nothing less. School cannot delight him. Stanza four compares good boy at school to a bird in a cage. A bird can't sing in a cage and also, a child can't be happy in school: his potential is restrained. Stanza five shows how people are dismayed at school and how students are stripped of their joy. The final stanza describes how school can never be fun, but it is like a cold winter's day blasting through the warm summer. In the last two stanzas Blake makes a heartfelt plea to parents using an extended metaphor of the natural cycles of life. In the world of nature, a bud grows into a flowering tree that will bear fruit as it matures. Blake references the seasons, describing how an Autumn harvest of fruit sustains life through the harsh Winter. In this way, he is illustrating how a happy childhood spent learning from the natural world will reap the benefits of a wise and fruitful old age. Sending children to school interferes with this natural cycle and results in a lifetime of unhappiness with no chance of cultivating wisdom. He likes the summer morning. He doesn't like the school. He thinks school is a
The School Boy
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Ann Henderson may refer to: Ann Henderson (sculptor) (1921–1976), Scottish sculptor Ann Henderson (politician) (1941–2002), Australian politician Ann Henderson (campaigner), Scottish labour campaigner and rector of the University of Edinburgh Anne Henderson (author) (born 1949), Australian writer Anne Henderson (public servant), chair of the Parades Commission of Northern Ireland Annie Henderson, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings character See also Ann Henderson-Sellers (born 1952), Australian professor of environment and geography
Ann Henderson
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Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. Dee was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades including two Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, a Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1995, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2000, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. Dee started her career with the American Negro Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in South Pacific (1943). She met her future husband working together on the play Jeb (1946). She originated the Broadway roles of Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and reprised the role in the 1961 film and Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins in the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious (1961) and reprised the role in the 1963 film. She made her film debut in That Man of Mine (1946) before landing a leading roles in films such as The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Edge of the City (1957), Take a Giant Step (1959), and Buck and the Preacher (1972). She also acted in the Ossie Davis film Black Girl (1972), and the Spike Lee films Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991). For her performance in American Gangster (2007), Dee was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Dee received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in The Doctors and the Nurses (1964) and Decoration Day (1990). She was Emmy-nominated for her roles in Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Lincoln (1988), China Beach (1990), and Evening Shade (1993). She also acted in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979), Long Day's Journey into Night (1982), Go Tell It on the Mountain (1985), The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990), The Stand (1994). She voiced Alice the Great in the Nickelodeon series Little Bill from 1994 to 2004. Early life and education Dee was born on October 27, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Gladys (née Hightower) and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, a cook, waiter and porter. After her mother left the family, Dee's father remarried, to Emma Amelia Benson, a schoolteacher. Dee was raised in Harlem, New York. Prior to attending Hunter College High School, she studied at Public Schools 119 and 136. Then, she went on to graduate from Hunter College with a degree in Romance languages in 1945. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta. Career 1940–1959: Early acting roles Dee joined the American Negro Theatre as an apprentice, working with Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Hilda Simms. She made her Broadway debut portraying a Native in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific (1943). She played the title role in the Eugene O'Neill play Anna Lucasta.
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Arkansas literature has an emerging consciousness, though it still lags behind other Southern states such as Mississippi and Georgia in the promotion of its literary culture. University of Arkansas Press is probably the state's largest publisher of books, though there do exist some notable small presses in the state: August House, Rose Publishing Group, and Chenault and Gray. The University of Arkansas's M.F.A. program has graduated a number of notable writers, including Lewis Nordan, John Dufresne, Steve Yarbrough, and more. In 2004, the state held the first annual Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock, attracting famous writers from around the nation. The Porter Prize is the state's most prestigious literary award. List of Arkansas residents and natives who have achieved a national stature for their writing Maya Angelou, whose I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells the story of her young life in Stamps, Arkansas. Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. John Gould Fletcher, 1938 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Ellen Gilchrist, winner of the 1984 National Book Award for her collection of short stories Victory over Japan, and author of more than twenty works of fiction. John Grisham, national and international best-selling author, from Black Oak, Arkansas (born in Jonesboro). Many of his books have been turned into movies, including A Painted House, which is set in Black Oak. Donald Harington, winner of the Robert Penn Warren Award for his many novels which take place in the fictional town of Stay More, Arkansas. Charles Portis, author of True Grit, which was made into a movie starring John Wayne. Mary Bucci Bush, author of Sweet Hope. Literary journals in Arkansas Toad Suck Review, a print literary journal published by the Department of Writing at the University of Central Arkansas, toadsuckreview.org. Arkansas Literary Forum, an online publication of Henderson State University, which has published such notable Arkansas Writers as Jack Butler and Donald Harington. Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies, a tri-annual journal published by Arkansas State University; it is the successor to the Kansas Quarterly. The Low Valley Review, a yearly print journal published by NorthWest Arkansas Community College, thelowvalleyreview.com The Oxford American, a quarterly journal of Southern culture once supported by John Grisham and now published by the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. The Natural Tale, a quarterly online journal of Arkansas-exclusive fiction and art. See also List of newspapers in Arkansas Southern United States literature Bibliography External links American literature by state literature
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Hisham Tawfiq (born May 17, 1970) is an American actor, best known for playing Dembe Zuma, part of the security detail and very close friend to Raymond "Red" Reddington in NBC's The Blacklist. Early life Born in New York City, Tawfiq discovered his love of the arts while performing the poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou in high school. Tawfiq studied at the Negro Ensemble Company, known for educating actors such as Denzel Washington and Ossie Davis. He also studied with coach Susan Batson. Prior to pursuing a full acting career, Tawfiq served in the U.S. Marines, deployed during Operation Desert Storm. From 1994 to 1996, Tawfiq worked as a corrections officer in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. While pursuing his acting career, Tawfiq also served as a firefighter for 20 years with the New York City Fire Department. Career Tawfiq performed with The Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Intimate Apparel and played Walter Lee Younger in a production of A Raisin in the Sun, which Tawfiq has said to be his dream role. Tawfiq starred in the BET film Gun Hill as Capt. Sanford, commander of a counter-crime task force. On television, Tawfiq has appeared in Lights Out, Law & Order spin-offs Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent, Kings, Golden Boy, 30 Rock, and the 2013 NBC remake of Ironside. Tawfiq played Dembe in NBC's The Blacklist. Starting with season 3, he was promoted to series regular. Filmography Film Television Theater References External links 1970 births Living people American male actors United States Marine Corps personnel of the Gulf War New York City firefighters United States Marines Muslims from New York (state) American people of Kenyan descent
Hisham Tawfiq
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"And Your Bird Can Sing" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on their 1966 album Revolver, apart from in the United States and Canada, where it instead appeared on Yesterday and Today. The song was written mainly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The recording features an extended dual-guitar melody, played by George Harrison and Paul McCartney, which anticipated the harmonised guitar arrangements commonly used by Southern rock, hard rock and heavy metal bands. Lennon was later dismissive of "And Your Bird Can Sing", referring to it as "another of my throwaways ... fancy paper around an empty box". The song's working title was "You Don't Get Me". Its oblique lyrics and Lennon's failure to reveal their meaning have encouraged several interpretations. One popular theory is that Lennon was addressing Frank Sinatra in response to a hagiographic article on the singer in Esquire magazine; another contends that the song was directed at Mick Jagger with reference to Marianne Faithfull. The Beatles first recorded the track in the style of the Byrds. This discarded version was released on the 1996 outtakes compilation Anthology 2 and includes the sound of Lennon and McCartney laughing their way through a vocal overdub and unable to sing. This version of the song was included (without the laughing overdub) on the second disc of the 2022 Super Deluxe Edition of Revolver. Background and inspiration Aside from dismissing it as a substandard work, John Lennon never discussed "And Your Bird Can Sing". His first wife Cynthia recalled that the song was inspired by her presenting Lennon with a clockwork bird inside a gilded cage, wrapped in gift paper, apart from the wind-up mechanism. She wound up the bird as she handed the present to Lennon so that it sang, leaving him with "an expression of sheer disbelief on his face" as he removed the wrapping paper. According to author Kenneth Womack, Lennon viewed the caged imitation bird as a metaphor for his marriage and a reflection of Cynthia's inability to understand him. The song's working title was "You Don't Get Me". The lack of an explanation from Lennon himself has led others to speculate on its meaning; music journalist Robert Fontenot states that the lyrics are among "the most speculated-upon of any Beatles track". In his 2007 book Can't Buy Me Love, Jonathan Gould says that Lennon wrote "And Your Bird Can Sing" about Frank Sinatra after reading a hagiographic article on the singer in Esquire magazine. Written by Gay Talese, the article detailed Sinatra's wealth and power, describing him as "the fully emancipated male ... the man who can have anything he wants", and repeatedly mentioned his use of the word "bird" to mean a penis. Talese quoted a press release for Sinatra's upcoming TV special, which stated it was a show for those who were "tired of kid singers wearing mops of hair thick enough to hide a crate of melons", and he said Sinatra aimed to
And Your Bird Can Sing
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The Heart of a Woman (1981) is an autobiography by American writer Maya Angelou. The book is the fourth installment in Angelou's series of seven autobiographies. The Heart of a Woman recounts events in Angelou's life between 1957 and 1962 and follows her travels to California, New York City, Cairo, and Ghana as she raises her teenage son, becomes a published author, becomes active in the civil rights movement, and becomes romantically involved with a South African anti-apartheid fighter. One of the most important themes of The Heart of a Woman is motherhood, as Angelou continues to raise her son. The book ends with her son leaving for college and Angelou looking forward to newfound independence and freedom. Like Angelou's previous volumes, the book has been described as autobiographical fiction, though most critics, as well as Angelou, have characterized it as autobiography. Although most critics consider Angelou's first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings more favorably, The Heart of a Woman has received positive reviews. It was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1997. Critic Mary Jane Lupton says it has "a narrative structure unsurpassed in American autobiography" and that it is Angelou's "most introspective" autobiography. The title is taken from a poem by Harlem Renaissance poet Georgia Douglas Johnson, which connects Angelou with other female African-American writers. African-American literature critic Lyman B. Hagen states, "Faithful to the ongoing themes of survival, sense of self, and continuing education, The Heart of a Woman moves its central figures to a point of full personhood". The book follows Angelou to several places in the US and Africa, but the most important journey she describes is "a voyage into the self." Background The Heart of a Woman, published in 1981, is the fourth installment of Maya Angelou's series of seven autobiographies. The success of her previous autobiographies and the publication of three volumes of poetry had brought Angelou a considerable amount of fame by 1981. And Still I Rise, her third volume of poetry, was published in 1978 and reinforced Angelou's success as a writer. Her first volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Writer Julian Mayfield states that Angelou's work set a precedent not only for other black women writers but for the genre of autobiography as a whole. Angelou had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women through the writing of her life stories. It made her, as scholar Joanne Braxton stated, "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer." Angelou was one of the first African-American female writers to discuss her personal life publicly, and one of the first to use herself as a central character in her books. Writer Hilton Als calls her a pioneer of self-exposure, willing to focus honestly on the more negative aspects of her personality and choices. While Angelou was composing her second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name, she
The Heart of a Woman
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J. Don Ferguson (November 21, 1933 – October 1, 2008), sometimes credited as Don Ferguson, was an American character actor who appeared in feature films and television programs. He was a prominent stage actor in Savannah, Georgia, regional stage theater productions. Ferguson also was an NCAA basketball tournament referee for ten years, and this experience led to his being cast in several related acting roles. Filmography Film The Longest Yard (1974) as Football Referee (uncredited) Gator (1976) as Bartender The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977) as Lt. Luther Baker Our Winning Season (1978) as Coach Michael Murphy Norma Rae (1979) as Peter Gallat The Prize Fighter (1979) as Referee #1 Little Darlings (1980) as Husband The Long Riders (1980) as Preacher The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981) as Hawkins The Loveless (1981) as Tarver Sharky's Machine (1981) as Rally Emcee Tennessee Stallion (1982) as Fred The American Snitch (1983) as Sonny Barton Tank (1984) as Gov. Harold R. Sims, Tennessee Kidco (1984) as TV Show Announcer Maximum Overdrive (1986) as Andy Running Mates (1986) as Robert Adams Date with an Angel (1987) as Harlan Rafferty Final Cut (1988) as Sheriff Thompson Fast Food (1989) as Dean Witler The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) as Bob Freejack (1992) as Promoter My Cousin Vinny (1992) as Guard #1 The Program (1993) as Referee Radioland Murders (1994) as Johnny Ace, Hard Boiled Dick (as Don Ferguson) The War (1994) as Mine Foreman Something to Talk About (1995) as Announcer Eddie (1996) as Game Referee Fled (1996) as Chairman Raney (1997) as Thurman Daddy Bell I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) as MC Major League: Back to the Minors (1998) as Mick the Umpire Remember the Titans (2000) as Executive Director The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) as Citizen Movievoyeur.com (2000) as Sheriff Ames The Substitute: Failure Is Not an Option (2001) as Colonel Teague Juwanna Mann (2002) as UBA Referee The Second Chance (2006) as Jeremiah Jenkins (final film role) Television F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles''' (1974, TV Movie) as Man in Speakeasy The Greatest Gift (1974, TV Movie) as Jim Friedlin Summer of My German Soldier (1978, TV Movie) as Mr. Jackson I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979, TV Movie) as Mr. Donleavy Barnaby Jones (1980, TV Series) as Ross Chapman When the Circus Came to Town (1981, TV Movie) as Andre Probashka Murder in Coweta County (1983, TV Movie) as Jim Hillin Windmills of the Gods (1988, TV Series) as Ian Villers Unconquered (1989, TV Movie) as Mr. Woods Traveling Man (1989, TV Movie) as Riker In the Heat of the Night (1989–1993, TV Series) as Rev. Winchell / Kevin Riley / Rev. Kenneth Haskell Murder in Mississippi (1990, TV Movie) When Will I Be Loved? (1990, TV Movie) as Man at Bar #1 In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas (1991, TV Movie) as James Blasingame Nightmare in Columbia County (1991, aka Victim of Beauty, TV Movie) as Bob
J. Don Ferguson
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Henry Reed may refer to: People Henry Reed (American football) (born 1948), American football player Henry Reed (cricketer) (1892–1963), English cricketer Henry Reed (merchant) (1806–1880), British merchant, philanthropist and evangelist Henry Reed (musician) (1884–1968), Appalachian fiddler and banjoist, associated with folklorist Alan Jabbour Henry Reed (poet) (1914–1986), British poet Henry Reed (Wisconsin legislator), Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly Henry Armstrong Reed (1858–1876), killed at Battle of the Little Bighorn, nephew of George Armstrong Custer Henry Byron Reed (1855–1896), Member of Parliament Herbert Reed (British Army soldier) (Henry Herbert Reed, died 1940), British sailor, George Cross recipient Henry Hope Reed (1808–1854), American educator Henry Hope Reed Jr. (1915–2013), American architecture critic and preservationist Henry Thomas Reed (1846–1924), U.S. federal judge Henry Reed (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings), a student mentioned in Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Fictional characters Henry Reed (character), in children's novels by Keith Robertson See also Henry Reid, former director of UCLA’s willed body program Henry Read (1890–1963), Anglican bishop in North India Henry English Read (1824–1868), American politician Henry Reade (1840–1884), English first-class cricketer, clergyman and educator Henry Reade (FRS) (c. 1716–1762), English academic and government official Harry Reid (disambiguation)
Henry Reed
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Champion of the World may refer to: Holder of a World championship "We Are the Champions", a 1977 song by the band, Queen The Champion of the World, a short story by Roald Dahl later adapted into Danny, the Champion of the World The nineteenth chapter of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings The Champion of the World (1927 film), a German silent film Champion of the World (2021 film), a Russian drama film "Champion of the World" (song), a 2020 single by Coldplay
Champion of the World
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Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, published in 1993, is African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou's first book of essays. It was published shortly after she recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. Journey consists of a series of short essays, often autobiographical, along with two poems, and has been called one of Angelou's "wisdom books". It is titled after a lyric in the African American spiritual, "On My Journey Now." At the time of its publication, Angelou was already well respected and popular as a writer and poet. Like her previous works, Journey received generally positive reviews. Background Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993) is Maya Angelou's first book of essays, published shortly after she recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of US President Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration. Her recitation resulted in more recognition for her previous works and broadened her appeal "across racial, economic, and educational boundaries". Journey is, together with the 1997 book Even the Stars Look Lonesome, one of the volumes that writer Hilton Als called Angelou's "wisdom book, comprising "homilies strung together with autobiographical texts". Journey was published during the period between her fifth and sixth autobiographies, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) and A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002). Angelou's second book of essays, Even the Stars Look Lonesome, was published in 1997. She had earlier published several volumes of poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971). Angelou's first personal essays were published in Essence in late 1992. The positive response from her readers and the encouragement of her friend Oprah Winfrey inspired her to write Journey. She later admitted that the public's response was "puzzling" to her. She also stated that she attempted to be "accessible" to her readers in the book. Journey appeared on The New York Times bestseller list and had an initial printing of 300,000 copies. The Los Angeles Times, in a report about the 1993 financial struggles of Angelou's publisher, Random House, speculated that the success of Journey partly compensated for the publisher's other losses. By 1993, when Journey was published, Angelou had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. She was, as scholar Joanne Braxton stated, "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". She had also become, as reviewer Richard Long stated, "a major autobiographical voice of the time". Angelou was one of the first African-American female writers to publicly discuss her personal life, and one of the first to use herself as a central character in her books. Writer Julian Mayfield, who called her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings "a work of art that eludes description", stated that Angelou's series set a precedent not only for other Black women writers, but
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
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"Aura Lea" (sometimes spelled "Aura Lee") is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (lyrics) and George R. Poulton (music). The melody was used in Elvis Presley's 1956 hit song "Love Me Tender". History Aura Lea was published by Poulton, an Englishman who had come to America with his family as a boy in 1838, and Fosdick in 1861. It was a sentimental ballad at a time when upbeat and cheerful songs were more popular in the music halls. It became popular as a minstrel song, and the tune was also taken up by the U.S. Military Academy as a graduating class song, called "Army Blue"; new lyrics by L. W. Becklaw were sung to the original melody. The Civil War began shortly after the song's release, "Aura Lea" was adopted by soldiers on both sides, and was often sung around campfires. The tune is familiar to modern audiences from the 1956 Elvis Presley #1 hit "Love Me Tender" with new lyrics by Ken Darby, a derivative adaptation of the original. A later Presley recording for the film The Trouble with Girls entitled "Violet (Flower of N.Y.U.)" also used the melody of "Aura Lea". Lyrics The lyrics as written by Fosdick: When the blackbird in the Spring, Neath the willow tree, Sat and rock'd, I heard him sing, Sing of Aura Lea. Aura Lea, Aura Lea, Maid of golden hair; Sunshine came along with thee, And swallows in the air. Chorus: Aura Lea, Aura Lea, Maid of golden hair; Sunshine came along with thee, And swallows in the air. In thy blush the rose was born, Music, when you spake, Through thine azure eye the morn, Sparkling seemed to break. Aura Lea, Aura Lea, Birds of crimson wing, Never song have sung to me, As in that sweet spring. (Chorus) Aura Lea! the bird may flee, The willow's golden hair Swing through winter fitfully, On the stormy air. Yet if thy blue eyes I see, Gloom will soon depart; For to me, sweet Aura Lea Is sunshine through the heart. (Chorus) When the mistletoe was green, Midst the winter's snows, Sunshine in thy face was seen, Kissing lips of rose. Aura Lea, Aura Lea, Take my golden ring; Love and light return with thee, And swallows with the spring. (Chorus) In popular culture "Aura Lee" was sung by Frances Farmer and a male chorus in the 1936 film Come and Get It, based on Edna Ferber's novel. Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album Join Bing and Sing Along (1959) Diana Muldaur sings the song to David Carradine in the episode "The Elixir" of Kung Fu. Jerry Lanning performed the song in "Big Star", a 1962 episode of The Donna Reed Show. The television cavalry comedy F Troop used a variation of the song to welcome saloon singer Laura Lee in the episode "She's Only a Build in a Girdled Cage" (cf. "She's only a bird in a
Aura Lea
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Tuff Enuff Records was a British queer/riot grrrl record label based in Brighton, England. History Tuff Enuff was established in 2012 as a spin-off from associated club night Riots Not Diets, and specialises in releasing DIY punk and lo-fi/underground music. The label is considered to be in the tradition of Slampt Records as well as more recent British queercore labels such as Homocrime and Irrk. First release was compilation album Why Diet When You Could Riot?, which was favourably reviewed in Maximum Rocknroll and elsewhere and included tracks from Ste McCabe and Trash Kit. Two further compilations followed, 2013's Carry On Rioting and 2014's I Know Why the Caged Grrrl Sings, including tracks by Shrag and Shopping, respectively. The label released a series of well-received cassette EPs by bands such as Frau, No Ditching, Dog Legs, The Ethical Debating Society and Big Joanie; vinyl singles by Men Oh Pause and Slum Of Legs; as well as vinyl albums by Roseanne Barr, Daskinsey4 and Ye Nuns, the latter band featuring Debbie Smith, Charley Stone and former members of Mambo Taxi and thee Headcoatees playing covers of songs by The Monks. Artists Alison’s Birthday As Ondas Big Joanie Crumbs Daskinsey4 Dog Legs The Ethical Debating Society Frau Grubs King Alfred, Man Of Leisure Martha Men Oh Pause The Middle Ones Milky Wimpshake Molar Neurotic Fiction No Ditching Roseanne Barr Slum Of Legs Try The Pie Two White Cranes Ye Nuns References External links Tuff Enuff Discogs Tuff Enuff 45Cat Tuff Enuff Bandcamp Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom British independent record labels Record labels established in 2012 Punk record labels Riot grrrl Queercore
Tuff Enuff Records
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Once I Was an Eagle is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Laura Marling, and was released on 27 May (US/Canada, 28 May) 2013. "Master Hunter" was the album's first official single release. It was nominated for the 2013 Mercury Prize. The record achieved unanimous critical acclaim, and has been cited as one of the best singer-songwriter records of the 21st century. History Background and production Marling began debuting songs from Once I Was An Eagle, as early as mid-late 2011, before the release of her third album, A Creature I Don't Know. These songs included "I Was An Eagle", "Pray For Me" and "Master Hunter". The album, according to Marling, is the "plain[est]" album she has written. She has commented that it follows a central figure, who angrily shuns naïvety and love, and over the course of the album regains a "second naïvety". The album is written in three tunings, which mark the basic changes in emotion. The first half ("Take The Night Off" to "Devil's Resting Place") has a darker, more melancholic tone, whereas the second half ("Undine" to "Saved These Words") has a more upbeat and open tone, if not jubilant. Marling has stated that there is a greater cohesion to 'Once I Was An Eagle', in terms of themes and the development of the music. Many critics have noted that the first half feels more like a continuous idea, intensified by the first four songs ("Take The Night Off", "I Was An Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe") which flow together as one. Following the conclusion of her tour for her previous album, Marling began production on her fourth album. Unlike her previous three albums, she chose not to work with a band, and instead she enlisted the help of producer Ethan Johns and cellist, Ruth de Turberville, to assist with the album's production. Marling recorded the album in 10 days at Three Crows studio in Bath, England. The guitar and vocals were recorded live in one take. The album is considerably longer than her previous efforts, with sixteen tracks, and running in at over an hour. Promotion The album was announced on 8 March 2013, along with a streaming of "Where Can I Go?" on Laura Marling's official SoundCloud page. Long time collaborators, Fred & Nick, created an 18-minute film called When Brave Bird Saved, written and directed by the pair, which was a "visual introduction" to the first four songs on the album, "Take The Night Off", "I Was an Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe". The four songs seamlessly flow into one another, much like "Don't Ask Me Why" and "Salinas" on Marling's previous album, A Creature I Don't Know. The name from the film is derived from the titles of the last four songs on the album, When Were You Happy? (And How Long Has That Been), Love Be Brave, Little Bird, and Saved These Words. "Master Hunter" premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 16 April 2013. Marling performed stripped-back
Once I Was an Eagle
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Hitting a New High is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Raoul Walsh. It stars Lily Pons and Jack Oakie. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1938 in the category Best Sound Recording (John O. Aalberg). Plot Corny Davis, a press agent of an American entertainment mogul based out of Paris, France is looking for a new work. After the mogul, Lucius B Blynn, faces a series of embrassments, his press agent tries to sign an opera singer for him. He finds an opera singer named Suzette (Lily Pons), Suzette is furious with her current agent and boyfriend (Jimmy James, played by John Howard) who wants her to sing cabaret instead of opera, so she walks out on him, where Corny is waiting. However, Davis's boss is already on a quest to rebuild his reputation by going on safari in French Equatorial Africa. Therefore, he has the opera singer (played by Lily Pons) go to the French Congo and pretend to be a "bird woman", something akin to Tarzan but having been raised amongst the birds. He "finds" her in the wild singing, just as Corny intended. Despite the farcical nature of this, Blynn buys it. He has her "captured" in a wooden cage, Corny says he'll "teach her" to speak, absurdly Blynn continues to fall for the entire charade. While Blynn frantically telegrams New York telling them about his "find", Corny and Suzette (who is pretending to be "Oogahunga the Bird-Girl") scheme to keep the farce going until she's famous and he's rich. Blynn excitedly debuts Suzette on radio in New York City while he wears full safari gear despite being on radio. When questioned on why he's dressed that way he says it's so he can have "an authentic mental juxtaposition". However, during her inaugural broadcast her ex-boss/ex-boyfriend hears her singing the song she was arguing with him about when she walked out on him. Immediately he knows it's her. Shortly thereafter Jimmy James shows up in Blynn's office. Blynn kicks him out but he scales the wall and finds Suzette upstairs playing piano and singing. Corny walks in on them and makes an arrangement with Jimmy, they get Suzette to agree to do shows for both of them in exchange for James not exposing their scheme. His friend and clarinet player Cedric Cosmos (played by Eric Blore) overhears Corny, Jimmy and Suzette discussing the entire scam backstage during one such cabaret show. He asks Jimmy for hush money and when he doesn't get it he shows up the next day as adventurer "Captain Braceridge Hemingway", explorer of Africa. Blynn, unaware he's being tricked yet again falls for Cedric's imitation. Cedric, as "Captain Braceridge Hemingway" tells an elaborate tale of shipwreck off of the coast Africa. He claims to be the long lost father of "Oogahunga, the Bird-Girl". Blynn gracefully allows him to reconnect with his "long lost daughter". When Cedric and Corny are alone, Cedric makes blackmail demands of Corny. However, during the
Hitting a New High
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Seven's Travels is the third studio album by the Minneapolis hip hop group Atmosphere, their first and only for Epitaph. It was released on September 23, 2003. "Trying to Find a Balance" and "National Disgrace" were released as singles and music videos were made for both. Background The original cover features a naked, bare-breasted woman laying in a field. It was changed to a plain white cover resembling The White Album due to the death of Marissa Mathy-Zvaifler, a 16-year-old girl who was murdered by a janitor during an Atmosphere show in Albuquerque, NM on July 16, 2003. The janitor, convicted child sex offender Dominic Akers, had led the girl backstage, claiming he would allow her to meet vocalist Sean Daley (aka Slug). Slug dedicates the album to Zvaifler in the liner notes, and later wrote about the incident and his reaction in a song entitled "That Night, which appears on the 2005 album You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having. Slug would later describe the song as one he "wasn't supposed to write" and marks the 2005 album as a whole as a beginning point of Slug's more positive storytelling in his music. Release On December 10, 2013, 3,000 limited edition vinyl pressings were released in celebration of the album's tenth anniversary. It uses the album's original cover art and contains bonus tracks. Track listing All songs are produced by Ant. Personnel Slug – vocals Nate "the Guitar Man" Collis – additional guitar on "Trying to Find a Balance" and "Always Coming Back Home to You" Cameron H., Kristin B., and Nate the Merchant – additional vocals on "Bird Sings Why the Caged I Know" Tasha Baron – additional rhodes on "Gotta Lotta Walls" and "Good Times (Sick Pimpin')" Anthony D. – additional vocals on "Gotta Lotta Walls" Sara, Katie and others – additional vocals on "Suicidegirls" Jason Cook – additional vocals on "Jason" Brother Ali – guest vocals on "Cats Van Bags" Sara Lindsay, Sage Francis – additional vocals on "Lifter Puller" Nate Collis – additional jawharp on "Shoes" and "National Disgrace" Crescent Moon and Advizor – additional vocals on "Liquor Lyles Cool July" I Self Devine – additional vocals on "In My Continental" References External links Rhymesayers Entertainment Atmosphere (music group) albums 2003 albums Epitaph Records albums Rhymesayers Entertainment albums
Seven's Travels
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"Kagome Kagome" (かごめかごめ, or ) is a Japanese children's game and the song (Warabe uta) associated with it. One player is chosen as the Oni (literally demon or ogre, but similar to the concept of "it" in tag) and sits blindfolded (or with their eyes covered). The other children join hands and walk in circles around the Oni while chanting the song for the game. When the song stops, the Oni tries to name the person standing directly behind them. The song is a subject of much interest because of its cryptic lyrics which vary from region to region. Many interpretations exist, but the originally intended meaning is unknown. Melody Lyrics The song's lyrics vary by region, but the most commonly known version is: The most common interpretation is: (** is additional to match singing) Kagome kagome / The bird in the cage, **bird in the cage** When, oh when will it come out In the evening of the dawn The crane and turtle slipped, **they slipped** Who is behind you now? As the song is typically written in a single line without any punctuation, in addition to the odd phrasing and ambiguous words, it is also unclear which phrases are connected to which (For example, "In the evening of dawn" could be an answer to "when oh when will it come out", or could be a setting for "the crane and turtle slipped"). Common variations in the song include replacing "夜明けの晩に" ("yoake no ban ni/in the evening of the dawn") with "夜明けの番人" ("yoake no bannin/the guard at/of dawn"), and "後ろの正面" ("ushiro no shoumen/in front of behind") with "後ろの少年" ("ushiro no shounen/the boy behind"). There are countless variations in history, many of which can be found recorded in writing. Meaning Many theories surround the meanings of the various phrases in the song. These include: Kagome "Kagome" (籠目): The holes in a basket A corruption of "kakome" ("surround") The shape of the holes in a traditional basket, a hexagon The shape of the holes in a traditional, including the woven material, a hexagram "Kagome" (籠女): A pregnant woman Kagome – a caged bird Kagome – "Circle you" Can also mean "lost" Kago no naka no tori wa As "kago" can mean both "cage" and "basket", a bird in a basket would, by the standards of the age, be a chicken It is possible that "tori" is supposed to be a metaphor for torii, and that kago (typically woven out of bamboo) refers to a bamboo fence, and that thus the "torii surrounded by bamboo" is in fact a Shinto shrine. In the case that kagome is interpreted as "pregnant woman", the bird in the cage is her unborn child, as the Japanese saying of "a bird in the cage" being a euphemism for pregnancy. Itsu itsu deyaru Can also be "itsu itsu deau" ("When oh when will we meet") Can mean "When will it come out?" Can mean "When can it come out?" Yoake no ban ni Can simply mean night
Kagome Kagome
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Paul Bernard du Feu (September 1935 – 1 January 2013) was a Welsh builder, painter, author and model. He is best known for his marriages to the feminist Germaine Greer and the poet Maya Angelou. He published the memoir Let's Hear it for the Long-legged Women in 1973. Life Born in 1935 in Wrexham, Wales, the son of a civil servant, du Feu grew up in London. His French surname came from ancestors who settled in the Channel Islands. He attended King's College London, studying English literature, during which time he married Shirley Thompson, with whom he had two children. After graduating he worked as a builder. Marriage to Germaine Greer In 1968 after being discharged from the hospital where he had been treated for alcohol poisoning, du Feu met Germaine Greer, then an assistant lecturer at the University of Warwick, outside a pub in Portobello Road and after a brief courtship they married at Paddington Registry office. Though their marriage officially lasted five years, their relationship lasted only three weeks. Greer later recalled that she had been unfaithful to du Feu seven times during their short relationship, and she had spent her wedding night in an armchair because her husband, drunk, would not let her in bed. Eventually, during a party near Ladbroke Grove, "'[h]e turned to me and sneered (drunk as usual): 'I could have any woman in this room.' 'Except me,' I said, and walked away forever.'" After this, du Feu posed in British Cosmopolitan, thought to be their first almost-naked male centrefold. In 1973 he also published an erotic memoir, Let's Hear it for the Long-legged Women, for which it is claimed he was paid more than Greer had been given as the advance for her 1970 work The Female Eunuch. Marriage to Maya Angelou du Feu met Maya Angelou in Soho in 1971, at a literary event for her best-selling autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. They married in 1974, and exchanged vows two further times, but divorced in 1983. They remained friends, and Angelou helped du Feu financially during his later years. Later life du Feu spent the rest of his life in California, both in Berkeley and later in Oakland, where he worked in home renovation. He died in January 2013. References 1935 births 2013 deaths People from Wrexham Maya Angelou
Paul du Feu
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Metikurke Ramaswamy Kamala is a writer, and a poet in Kannada language who is a recipient of Karnataka Sahitya Academy award. Early life and education Kamala was born in Metikurke, a village in Hassan district of Karnataka. Her parents, N H Raamaswamy and Vishaalakshi had farmlands. Her father a gamaka performer, encouraged her interest in literature. Kamala's early education was in her hometown Metikurke school. She received a B.A degree from MES College, and a M.A Kannada from Bangalore University in 1980. She also studied a LLB degree and a diploma in French language from Bangalore University. Career Kamala started writing poems and stories at a young age, and while studying in college, she published her works in college magazines and local newspapers. Her first poetry collection, Shakuntalopakhyana was published in 1988. Some of her selected poems have been printed in English, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Telugu and Marathi languages, and in 2005, some were set to music by a Kannada composer C. Ashwath. She has translated books from other languages into Kannada. She has primarily focused on translating works written by women writers from Africa, Arab nations, and African-Americans. She translated Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings into Kannada. M. R. Kamala started her career working as a Kannada Lecturer in a Pre-Univeraity (PU) College, at Halebidu in 1981 and retired as a Principal of Shivanahalli Pre-University College (PU), Rajajinagar, Bengaluru in 2018. Bibliography Shakuntalopakhyana (1988) Kattala Hoovina Haadu (1989) Jaane Mattu Itara KavitegaLu (1992) Jivananandara Kavitegalu (2003) Hoovu Chellida Haadi (2007) Nettarali Nenda Chandra (2016) Maaribidi (2017) Oora Beediya Suttu (2020) Gadyagandhi (2020) Quarantine (2020) Kappu Hakkiya Belakina Haadu Rosa Parks Sere Hakki Haduvudu Ekendu Balle Awards and recognitions Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award Translation Academy award Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Award (2007) SV Parameshwara Bhat award (2017) Maasti award (2018) BM Shri Golden Medal winner Muddanna poetry award Amma Award instituted by the Matrushree Mahadevamma Nagappa Munnur Prathishtan Matrushri Ratnamma Hedge Memorial Award References Kannada-language writers Living people 1959 births People from Bangalore People from Hassan district Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada Poets from Karnataka
M. R. Kamala
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Gather Together in My Name is a 1974 memoir by American writer and poet Maya Angelou. It is the second book in Angelou's series of seven autobiographies. Written three years after the publication of and beginning immediately following the events described in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, it follows Angelou, called Rita, from the ages of 17 to 19. The title is taken from the Bible, but also conveys how one Black female lived in the white-dominated society of the U.S. following World War II. Angelou expands upon many themes that she started discussing in her first autobiography, including motherhood and family, racism, identity, education and literacy. Rita becomes closer to her mother in this book, and goes through a variety of jobs and relationships as she tries to provide for her young son and find her place in the world. Angelou continues to discuss racism in Gather Together, but moves from speaking for all Black women to describing how one young woman dealt with it. The book exhibits the narcissism of young people, but describes how Rita discovers her identity. Like many of Angelou's autobiographies, Gather Together is concerned with Angelou's on-going self-education. Gather Together was not as critically acclaimed as Angelou's first autobiography, but received mostly positive reviews and was recognized as being better written than its predecessor. The book's structure, consisting of a series of episodes tied together by theme and content, parallels the chaos of adolescence, which some critics feel makes it an unsatisfactory sequel to Caged Bird. Rita's many physical movements throughout the book, which affects the book's organization and quality, has caused at least one critic to call it a travel narrative. Background Gather Together in My Name, published in 1974, is Maya Angelou's second book in her series of seven autobiographies and was written three years after her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In 1971, Angelou published her first volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), which became a bestseller and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. It was Angelou's early practice to alternate a prose volume with a poetry volume. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost's "The Gift Outright" at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961. Through the writing of this autobiography and her life stories in all of her books, Angelou became recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. According to scholar Joanne Braxton, it made her "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". Title The title of Gather Together is inspired by Matthew 18:19–20: "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three
Gather Together in My Name
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A Song Flung Up to Heaven is the sixth book in author Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies. Set between 1965 and 1968, it begins where Angelou's previous book All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes ends, with Angelou's trip from Accra, Ghana, where she had lived for the past four years, back to the United States. Two "calamitous events" frame the beginning and end of the book—the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Angelou describes how she dealt with these events and the sweeping changes in both the country and in her personal life, and how she coped with her return home to the U.S. The book ends with Angelou at "the threshold of her literary career", writing the opening lines to her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. As she had begun to do in Caged Bird, and continued throughout her series, Angelou upheld the long tradition of African-American autobiography. At the same time she made a deliberate attempt to challenge the usual structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Most reviewers agreed that the book was made up of a series of vignettes. By the time Song was written in 2002, sixteen years after her previous autobiography, Angelou had experienced great fame and recognition as an author and poet. She recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's in 1961. She had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. Angelou was, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt, ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". She had also become, as reviewer Richard Long stated, "a major autobiographical voice of the time". The title of Song was based upon the same poem, by African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, the basis of her first autobiography. Like Angelou's other autobiographies, the book was greeted with both praise and disappointment, although reviews were generally positive. Reviewers praised Angelou for "the culmination of a unique autobiographical achievement", while others criticized her for coming across as "smug". The 2002 spoken word album by the same name, based on the book, received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2003. Background A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002) is the sixth of Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies, and at the time of its publication it was considered to be the final installment. It was completed 16 years after the publication of her previous autobiography, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) and over thirty years after the publication of her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou wrote two collections of essays in the interim, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993) and Even the Stars Look Lonesome (1997), which writer Hilton Als called her "wisdom books" and "homilies strung together with autobiographical texts". She also continued her poetry
A Song Flung Up to Heaven