THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 70 lines
WIDELY ACCLAIMED poet Maya Angelou will speak in Norfolk in March.
The author of 12 best-selling books will be guest speaker at the 33rd annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner of the Tidewater Chapter of The National Conference, at the Marriott Waterside March 11.
Angelou is poet-in-residence at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. At President Clinton's first inauguration, in 1993, she read her poem ``On the Pulse of the Morning.'' Robert Frost read at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration, in 1961, a time when racial discrimination would have kept Angelou off Wake Forest campus.
As a civil-rights activist, she worked with the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Angelou's best-selling autobiography, ``I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,'' details her rape in early childhood and the loss of speech that resulted and silenced her for many years.
Recently, Angelou joined forces with actor Ossie Davis to help raise money to rebuild black churches torched in a wave of church burnings last summer.
The poet has said she prays at least 50 times each day.
Organizers said the annual awards dinner normally draws about 500 people, but they expect many more because of Angelou's appearance.
Recipients of humanitarian awards are: George Y. Birdsong of Suffolk, executive vice president of Birdsong Peanuts; state Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, leader of the General Assembly's Black Caucus; and Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.
The National Conference, founded in 1927 as the National Conference of Christians and Jews, is a human-relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America. It promotes understanding and respect among all races, religions and cultures through advocacy, conflict resolution and education.
Event chairman is William I. Foster III, president of the eastern region of Central Fidelity National Bank. He has served on the boards of numerous Hampton Roads organizations and was 1996 Whitney M. Young dinner chair for the Urban League. ILLUSTRATION: STEVE DUNWELL
Maya Angelou is poet-in-residence at Wake Forest University in North
Carolina.
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WANT TO GO?
What? 33rd annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner
Where? Norfolk Marriott Waterside Hotel
When? March 11, 6 p.m.; cash bar at 5 p.m.
The awards dinner is open to the public. Prices are:
Company tables
Sponsor, $2,000
Patron, $1,850
For 10, $1,250
Individual seats
Patron, $185
Individual, $125
Reservations: (757) 359-2137