tute, 2005. Provides an appraisal of the program
and opinions from a variety of political thinkers
on the future of the program. Somewhat limited
in the views presented.
Metz, Allan, comp.National Service and AmeriCorps:
An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press, 1997. A reference work provid-
ing a wide variety of sources on national service
and AmeriCorps. The work lists books, disserta-
tions, government documents, and serial litera-
ture and includes a brief appendix for Internet
resources.
Melissa A. Barton
See also Clinton, Bill; Educate America Act of
1994; Education in Canada; Education in the United
States; Natural disasters; Poverty; Year-round schools.
Angelou, Maya
Identification African American poet
Born April 4, 1928; St. Louis, Missouri
Her writings, her diplomatic service to the United Nations
Children’s Fund and the Million Man March, her work
with stage and film, and her teaching have been a model to
others.
Maya Angelou was the second poet
in history, the first woman poet, and
the first African American to write
and deliver a poem at a U.S. presi-
dential inauguration. She read her
poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at
President Bill Clinton’s inaugura-
tion in 1993. By the end of the
1990’s, Angelou had published five
books in her “franchise of autobi-
ographies.” In May, 1997, Oprah
Winfrey selected Angelou’sThe Heart
of a Woman(1981) as the first nonfic-
tion book for Oprah’s Book Club.
Angelou’s books published in
the 1990’s includeI Shall Not Be
Moved(1990),Wouldn’t Take Nothing
for My Journey Now(1993), the chil-
dren’s bookLife Doesn’t Frighten Me
(1993),The Complete Collected Poems
of Maya Angelou(1994), andEven the
Stars Look Lonesome(1997). She also
prepared the introductions to H. Beecher Hicks’s
My Soul’s Been Anchored(1998) and the 1994 edition
of Langston Hughes’sNot Without Laughter(1930).
During the decade, Angelou continued to fulfill
her lifetime appointment (1981) as Reynolds Profes-
sor of American Studies at Wake Forest University. In
1996, she served as ambassador to the United Na-
tions Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and as a member
of Doctors Without Borders. During the Million
Man March, held on October 16, 1995, in Washing-
ton, D.C., she read her own “Million Man March
Poem,” urging African American activism, volun-
teerism, and voter registration.
Angelou appeared in the filmHow to Make an
American Quilt(1995). In 1998, she became the first
African American woman to direct a film:Down in the
Delta. For her spoken word albums Phenomenal
Woman(1995) andOn the Pulse of Morning(1993),
she earned the National Academy of Recording Arts
and Sciences Award. Her author-read audiobooks of
the decade includeThe Heart of a Woman(1997) and
the abridged version of 1970’sI Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings(1996).
Impact Angelou earned a number of honors and
awards during the 1990’s, including the Langston
Hughes Award (1991), “Woman of the Year” (1991)
fromEssence, the Distinguished Woman of NorthThe Nineties in America Angelou, Maya 39
Maya Angelou in 1996.(AP/Wide World Photos)