Date: 2016-03-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 3735. a bill to name a post office in WinstonSalem. North Carolina as the Maya Angelou Memorial Post Office. Dr. Maya Angelous illustrious legacy is befitting this welldeserved recognition. Multitalented barely covers the depth and breadth of Maya Angelous accomplishments. She was an author. actress. screenwriter. dancer. civil rights activist. professor. and poet. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4. 1928. in St. Louis. Missouri. Maya Angelou is perhaps best known for her 1969 memoir. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In 1971. Maya Angelou published the Pulitzer Prizenominated poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water Fore I Die. Maya Angelou received several honors throughout her career. including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category. in 2005 and 2009 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010. During World War II. Maya Angelou moved to San Francisco. California. where she won a scholarship to study dance and acting at the California Labor School. Also during this time. Maya Angelou became the first black female cable car conductor in San Francisco. California. In the mid1950s. Maya Angelous career as a performer began to take off. when she landed a role in a touring production of Porgy and Bess. later appearing in the offBroadway production Calypso Heat Wave (1957) and releasing her first album. Miss Calypso (1957). As a member of the Harlem Writers Guild and a civil rights activist. Maya Angelou organized and starred in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit to raise funds for Dr. Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Maya Angelou also served as the SCLCs northern coordinator. In 1961. Maya Angelou appeared in an offBroadway production of Jean Genets The Blacks with James Earl Jones. Lou Gossett Jr. and Cicely Tyson. While the play earned strong reviews. Maya Angelou moved on to other pursuits. spending much of the 1960s abroad. first living in Egypt and then in Ghana. working as an editor and a freelance writer at the University of Ghana. After returning to the United States. Angelou was urged by friend and fellow writer James Baldwin to write about her life experiences. Maya Angelous efforts resulted in the enormously successful 1969 memoir about her childhood and young adult years. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an AfricanAmerican woman. making Maya an international superstar. Since publishing Caged Bird. Maya Angelou continued to break new ground not just artistically. but educationally and socially. She wrote the screenplay for the film drama Georgia. Georgia in 1972and made history as the first AfricanAmerican woman to have her screenplay produced. Maya Angelou went on to earn a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1973 play Look Away and an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the television miniseries Roots (1977). Maya Angelou also published several collections of poetry. including Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water Fore I Die (1971). which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. One of Maya Angelous most famous works is the poem "On the Pulse of Morning." which she wrote especially for and recited at President Bill Clintons inaugural ceremony in January 1993. the first inaugural recitation since 1961. when Robert Frost delivered his poem "The Gift Outright" at President John F. Kennedys inauguration. Maya Angelou went on to win a Grammy Award (best spoken word album) for the audio version of the poem. In 1995. Maya Angelou again made history. this time for remaining on The New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list for two yearsthe longestrunning record in the charts history. Seeking new creative challenges. Maya Angelou made her directorial debut in 1998 with Down in the Delta. starring Alfre Woodard. She also wrote a number of inspirational works. from the essay collection Wouldnt Take Nothing for My Journey Now. to her advice for young women in Letter to My Daughter. Interested in health. Angelou has even published cookbooks. including Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories With Recipes and Great Food. All Day Long. Among her numerous accolades are the Chicago International Film Festivals 1998 Audience Choice Award. Acapulco Black Film Festival in 1999 for Down in the Delta. and two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. a close friend. was assassinated on Maya Angelous 40th birthday. April 4. 1968. and from that year forward Maya Angelou refused to celebrate her birthday. instead. she would send flowers to Dr. Kings widow. Coretta Scott King. for more than 30 years. until her death in 2006. President Barack Obama has called Maya Angelou "a brilliant writer. a fierce friend. and a truly phenomenal woman." who "had the ability to remind us that we are all Gods children. that we all have something to offer." Madam Speaker. I can think of so many other reasons why Dr. Maya Angelous illustrious legacy deserves this profound recognition. but I leave you with these words from Dr. Angelous poem. Still I Rise: Leaving behind nights of terror and fear. I rise. Into a daybreak thats wondrously clear. I rise. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise!