Intro
G:\Press\CSV\Photos\NVLP-poster large.bmp [I know this is rectangular and the format is square. I hope it will work out. On their Facebook page, they have cropped this poster for their profile photo http://www.facebook.com/visionaryproject.]
EMBED: Courtesy photo
ALT: Poster with photo compilation (Courtesy of NVLP)
For nearly a decade, the nonprofit National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP) collected the oral histories of extraordinary African-American elders who helped shape America’s culture and history. NVLP recorded interviews with more than 200 people, ranging from ordinary citizens to renowned artists, politicians and civil rights leaders. The recordings are archived at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center, and clips from the interviews can be seen on the NVLP website.
This photo gallery offers a selection of clips featuring Dorothy Height, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Carmen de Lavallade, Odetta and Coretta Scott King.
Panel 1
Photo: AP 080314152143
See http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/Week_2/07142010_AP080314152143_500.jpg
EMBED: © AP Images
Alt: Dorothy Height sitting in front of photo of her younger self (AP Images)
Dorothy Height
(1912–2010)
NVLP records, preserves and distributes the wisdom of extraordinary African Americans — “Visionaries” — who have shaped American history. Certainly the late civil rights activist Dorothy Height fits that description. She played a role in nearly every major 20th-century reform movement for blacks and women, led the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years, and stood by Martin Luther King Jr. during his “I Have a Dream” speech. Dorothy Height, said President Obama, “deserves a place of honor in America’s memory.”
In this video clip, she discusses her first trip to Africa. See other clips of Dorothy Height on the NVLP website.
Panel 2
Photo: AP 940405026
EMBED: © AP Images
Alt: Profile of Toni Morrison (AP Images)
Toni Morrison
(1931-
Toni Morrison’s richly woven fiction has gained her international acclaim, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She paints African-American women as unique, fully individual characters rather than stereotypes, while exploring difficult subjects such as racism, infanticide and slavery. Among her nine novels are Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby, Beloved, and most recently, A Mercy. Beloved, a wrenching look at slavery, won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
In this video clip, she talks about the future of African-American literature. See other clips of Toni Morrison on the NVLP website.
See also: “The Role of Writers in Interracial Understanding”
Panel 3
Photo: AP 060912049446
EMBED: © AP Images
ALT: Close-up of Maya Angelou
[copydesk: Diiie is correct spelling in the title of her book of poetry]
Maya Angelou
(1928-
Poet Maya Angelou has been hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the first in a series of autobiographical works, was nominated for a National Book Award, and she received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie. In January 1993, Angelou became the second poet in U.S. history to write and recite an original work at a presidential Inauguration. She delivered “On the Pulse of the Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s swearing-in.
Here she talks about being invited to write a poem for the inauguration. See other clips of Maya Angelou on the NVLP website.
See also: “On Penning a Verse for the President-Elect” [on poet Elizabeth Alexander]
Panel 4
Photo: AP 7703011481
EMBED: © AP Images
Alt: Carmen de Lavallade and Rudolf Nureyev seated at table and talking (AP Images)
Less table in photo?
Carmen de Lavallade
(1931-
Dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade (shown with Rudolf Nureyev in 1977) has performed with Alvin Ailey, the Metropolitan Opera (as prima ballerina), on Broadway, on television and in film. She was inspired by her cousin Janet Collins, the first African American to be a prima ballerina for the Metropolitan Opera. In 1966, de Lavallade won a Dance Magazine award for her contribution to the art of dance. She has been married to dancer Geoffrey Holder for 55 years.
In this clip, she talks about finding her place in dance. See other clips of Carmen de Lavallade on the NVLP website.
See also: Carmen de Lavallade and Wesley Fata performing in 1968 (at YouTube.com)
Panel 5
Photo: AP 03020704567 [clip to head and shoulders]
EMBED: © AP Images
Alt: Close-up of Odetta (AP Images)
Odetta
(1930-2008)
Odetta toured the world singing folk songs, blues, Negro spirituals, jazz and protest songs, telling the stories of America’s southern experience. Active in the civil rights movement, she sang at the March on Washington in 1963 and marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama. Odetta is credited with inspiring Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and many other singers. King called her “the queen of American folk music.”
In this clip, she talks about her life as an activist. See other clips of Odetta on the NVLP website.
See also: Odetta singing “Midnight Special” and “No More Auction Block” [both at YouTube.com]
Panel 6
Photo: AP 640608054
EMBED: © AP Images
Alt: Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King in 1964 (AP Images)
Coretta Scott King
(1927-2006)
Coretta Scott King championed civil rights, justice and equality at the side of her husband, Martin Luther King Jr. (shown with her in 1964), and she carried on after his assassination in 1968. She worked tirelessly to preserve her husband’s memory, establishing the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, and chairing the commission to create a Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. Her efforts, said President George W. Bush, “made America a better and more compassionate nation.”
In this clip, she talks about the meaning of leadership. See other clips of Coretta Scott King on the NVLP website.
See also: “Martin Luther King Inspired by 1959 Journey to India” and “Coretta Scott King Dead at 78.”
Panel 7
Photo: AP 080303031043 [Crop off bottom if needed]
EMBED: © AP Images
Alt: Close-up of Camille Cosby (AP Images)
The National Visionary Leadership Project was co-founded in 2001 by Camille Cosby (shown), the wife of comedian Bill Cosby, and Renee Poussaint, a filmmaker and former television journalist. NVLP chronicles the lives of accomplished African American elders “to unite the generations and create a blueprint for tomorrow’s leaders,” according to its website. The interviews allow the public to gain “a whole new understanding of America’s past, and the lessons to be learned from it.”
NVLP can be accessed via its website, Facebook and YouTube. Also see “NVLP Highlights Reel.”