Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Screening & Discussion

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise is the first feature documentary about the incomparable Dr. Maya Angelou (1928-2014), best known for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Poets Parneshia Jones and Jamila Woods join filmmakers Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack for a panel discussion after the film. 

Distinctly referred to as “a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture,” Maya Angelou gave people the freedom to think about their history in a way they never had before. Dr. Angelou’s was a prolific life; as a singer, dancer, activist, poet and writer, she inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American thought that pushed boundaries. This unprecedented film weaves her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her work with Malcolm X in Ghana to her inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton, the film takes us on an incredible journey through the life of a true American icon. 

Parneshia Jones is the recipient of a Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, a Margaret Walker Short Story Award, and an Aquarius Press Legacy Award. Her first book is Vessel (2015). A member of Affrilachian Poets, a collective of black poets from Appalachia, she serves on the boards of Cave Canem and the Guild Complex and the advisory board for UniVerse: A United Nations of Poetry. She is the sales and subsidiary rights manager and poetry editor at Northwestern University Press.

Jamila Woods is a poet, singer, and teaching artist. Her poetry has been published by MUZZLE, Third World Press, and Poetry magazine. She is the associate artistic director of Young Chicago Authors and a founding member of its Teaching Artist Corps. In 2015, she was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation.

Cosponsored with WTTW in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events