“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” said Maya Angelou.

Angelou is famously known as a writer, poet, playwright, editor, and essayist. Did you know she was also a civil rights activist?

Angelou was a civil rights activist who worked for Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King. Her earlier careers involved being a singer, dancer, actress, and composer.

In 1969, Angelou published her astounding autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing”, making her a national figure overnight.

By 1972, she wrote the original screenplay for “Georgia, Georgia (1972)” which became the first screenplay to be filmed and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by an African American woman.

Angelou was invited to read one of her poems, “On the Pulse of Morning”, at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. 

She has received many awards in her life, noticeably a Grammy for “Best Spoken Word Album,” and “On The Pulse of Morning” (1993).

She was the first recipient of the Hope for Peace and Justice Voice of Peace Award (2008).  President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2010), which is considered the Nation’s highest civilian honor granted to people who’ve made substantial contributions to the United States.

Walkkowiak and the NAACP Club will host the second annual Black History Month assembly for all students at the end of February.