Angelou Talk to Highlight MLK Week at Carolina

Posted on Jan. 6, 2009

Poet Maya Angelou, who has written 12 best-sellers, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, will give the keynote address for Carolina’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week Jan. 18-23.

Angelou, the Reynolds Professor of American studies at Wake Forest University, was the second poet in U.S. history to produce original work for a presidential inauguration and read it at the ceremony. She created the work, On the Pulse of Morning, for the inauguration of Bill Clinton in January 1993. She has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for best spoken-word album.

Her talk in Memorial Hall at 6 p.m. Jan. 21 will be free, but those planning to attend should get reserved-seat tickets in advance at the Memorial Hall Box Office, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays except Jan. 19. UNC students may pick up two tickets per UNC One Card beginning Jan. 13; others may get two tickets per person beginning Jan. 15.

A candlelight vigil before the lecture will be at the Old Well on Cameron Avenue at 5:30 p.m.

Other events during the week will include a students’ day of service on Jan. 19 – the federal MLK holiday – a jazz ensemble performance, a dinner and a film. A complete list of events with details is available online.

The events are sponsored by numerous campus units. For more information, contact the UNC Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at (919) 962-6062.

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