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Series: Say Brother
Program: Observations of Brown Brilliance
Episode: 906
Date: 1978-11-24
Duration: 00:01:00
Subject: Oral interpretation of poetry; African American women poets
People: Angelou, Maya
Clip Description
Program focuses on the work of poet and actor Maya Angelou, whose new book of poems And Still I Rise was recently published. As part of an interview with Barbara Barrow-Murray, Maya Angelou reads her poem "Phenomenal Women" in the Say Brother studio.
Program Description
Program focuses on the work of poet and actor Maya Angelou, whose new book of poems And Still I Rise was recently published. Host Barbara Barrow-Murray speaks with Angelou in-studio to discuss how she is inspired, how she measures success, poets that have inspired her (Paul Dunbar, William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Emily Dickinson), the impact of her mother on her life, publishing trends as they relate to minority writers, and her work as an actor (namely in the television series based on Alex Haley's Roots). Interview includes Angelou's readings of her poems "Phenomenal Women" and "Men," as well as Angelou's responses to questions from the studio audience. The second half of program features previously aired Say Brother segments, namely: Hilda Harris's studio performance of "This Little Light of Mine" (by John Work) and "The Segadilla" (an aria from the second act of Carmen by Georges Bizet) from 1977 when Harris was performing at the Berklee Performance Center, Say Brother interviews with Nikki Giovanni and Sonia 5X Sanchez from 1975, and an in-studio poetry reading of Sam Stamper's poem "Mary Lou" from 1977. Produced by Barbara Barrow-Murray. Directed by Eric Himes and Conrad White.
Series Description
Say Brother is WGBH's longest running public affairs television program by, for and about African Americans, and is now known as Basic Black. Since its inception in 1968, Say Brother has featured the voices of both locally and nationally known African American artists, athletes, performers, politicians, professionals, and writers including: Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Thomas Atkins, Amiri Baraka, Doris Bunte, Julian Bond, Stokely Carmichael, Louis Farrakhan, Nikki Giovanni, Odetta Gordon, Henry Hampton, Benjamin Hooks, Jesse Jackson, Hubie Jones, Mel King, Eartha Kitt, Elma Lewis, Haki Madhubuti, Wallace D. Muhammad, Charles Ogletree, Byron Rushing, Owusu Sadaukai, and Sonia Sanchez.
