Maya Angelou & Tyra Banks

Maggie Salem Period 5 World History Honors

Mrs. Herrmann

Developed wonderous skills in writing poetry.

Known as Marguerite Ann

Johnson.

‘I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing’

was her autobiographical

book.

Sexually abused by her mother’s

boyfriend.

Helped Malcom X build the

Organization of African-American

Unity.

Parents separated in 1931.

Won Mother Teresa Award.

She got pregnant in high school.

Read one of her poems at the inauguration ceremony of President Bill

Clinton.

Early Life• Born in St. Louis,

Missouri. April 4, 1928.

• Originally known as Marguerite Ann Johnson.

• Father: Bailey Johnson.

• Mother: Vivian Johnson.

• As a teenager, her love for the arts won her a scholarship to study dance and drama at San Francisco’s Labor School.

Continued…

• Her parents got separated in 1931.

• Maya was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend.

• After Maya had been sexually abused, she rarely talked.

• Thanks to Bertha Flowers, her teacher, she was helped to talk again.

• Her teacher increased her interest in literature.

Schooling and Careers

• Studied drama and dance on a scholarship at California Labor School

• Dropped out of school to become San Francisco’s first African-American female cable car conductor.

• She later returned to high school, where she got pregnant and had a baby boy.

• She worked as a cook and waitress to support her baby.

1950’s

• Married a Greek sailor, Tosh Angelos.

• Started her career as a nightclub singer.

• Became known as Maya Angelou.

• Recorded the album ‘Calypso Lady’.

More 1950’s.

• Developed skills in writing poetry. Joined the Harlem Writers Guild in NYC.

• Got involved with the Civil Rights activists.

• Went to a Southern Christian Leadership Conference on orders of Martin Luther King Jr.

1960’s

• Helped Malcolm X build the Organization of African- American Unity.

• Started to work on her autobiographical book.

• Called it, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’.

1970’s

• Her book got published.

• Married Paul du Feu.

• Book ‘Gather Together in My Name’ was published.

Later on…

• Divorced Paul du Feu.

• Read one of her poems at the inauguration ceremony of President Bill Clinton.

Awards Received• Fulbright Program 40th

Anniversary Distinguished Lecturer Award.

• Langstan Hughes Medal.

• Grammy Award for ‘Best Spoken World Album’.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Association National Award.

• Mother Teresa Award.

• First recipient of the Hope for Peace and Justice Voice of Peace Award.

• Chubb Fellowship Award, Yale University.

• Pulitzer Prize nomination for ‘Just Give Me A Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die’.

• Ladies’ Home Journal Award.

• Gold Eagle Award, Afro-American in the Arts.

Has her own talk show.

Is an accomplished singer.

Born on December 4th, 1973

First African-American woman on the cover of

Sports Illustrated.

Actress on the Fresh Prince of Bel-

Air.

Teased constantly because of her awkward size in

high school.

America’s Next Top Model was created

by this woman.

Her mother was her manager.

Actress on Life-Size.

Early Years

• Tyra was born on December 4th, 1973.

• She was born in Inglewood, California.

• Parents were Carolyn and Donald banks.

• Her parents divorced at age 7.

Schooling

She attended John Burroughs Middle School.

While in high school, Tyra was teased constantly because of her increasing height.

Graduated from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles in 1991.

First Dream

• After high school, Tyra decided that she wanting to just try to model thinking it would be a good way for her to travel.

• Her mother was an amateur photographer, so she had put a portfolio of her together.

• Tyra took her book to many modeling agencies, but at that time the market for black models wasn’t very good.

College

• She was accepted to Loyola Marymount University.

• But, two weeks before classes were about to start, a model scout from France saw her and offered her work immediately.

Modeling

• She was the first African-American woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated's high-profile swimsuit issue.

• American designer Ralph Lauren wanted her for another one of his lush, multipage ad campaigns

• Cosmetics giant Cover Girl made her the second African American to be offered a long-term deal with them.

Acting

• Banks had been cast in an occasional recurring role on the NBC-TV sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel–Air.

• Banks portrayed Jackie Ames, a love interest of Smith's title character.

• Higher Learning. Film by John Singleton

• Banks had established her acting career.

Television

• Seven appearances on other TV series. Some exampels are Felicity, MADtv, Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘n Out, and The Price is Right.

• On each she was a guest star. In The Price is Right, she was a “Barker Beauty.”

America’s Next Top Model

• She created America’s Next Top Model, which is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America’s Next Top Model.

• She serves as the head judge.

• She has had 13 seasons of it and 169 episodes.

The Tyra Banks Show

• The show covers a variety of topics, but a lot of sensationalized focus on current issues facing women.

• It has had 5 seasons and it ended on December 28th, 2009.

Movies

• Life-Size-played a doll named Eve, who comes to life and has to learn how to live in the real world.

• Love Stinks

• Love & Basketball

• Coyote Ugly

• Halloween: Resurrection

Comparison

• Both persevered through racism.

• Leaders

• African-American Women

• Divorced parents

• Found themselves in many Americans’ homes.

• Had rough childhoods

Differences

• Grew up in different time frames.

• Different careers.

• Lived in separate parts of the United States.

• Different personalities.

• Appealed to different ages.

Who Impacted History More?

Maya Angelou• Civil Rights Activist.

• Known by many leaders of the United States.

• Many books published.

• Many awards for her books and poems.

Works Cited• Answers.com. 2010 Answers Corporation, 2010. Web. 3 May

2010. <http://www.answers.com/ topic/ tyra-banks>.

• “Maya Angelou- Biography.” Maya Angelou: Global Renaissance Woman. Dr. Maya Angelou Official Site, 2010. Web. 3 May 2010.

• “Maya Angelou Biography--- Academy of Achievement.” Academy of Achievement. American Academy of Achievement, 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.achievement.org/ autodoc/ page/ ang0bio-1>.

• “Tyra Banks Biography.” Bio. True Story. A & E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.biography.com/ articles/ Tyra-Banks-16242328>.

• “Tyra Banks Biography.” The Planets. N.p., 2009. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.the-planets.com/ star-biography/ Tyra-Banks-Biography.htm>.