BIOGRAPHIES

She is a Pulitzer Prizewinning, African-American

novelist and famous poet. She was born on

February 9th, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. The

youngest daughter of sharecroppers, she grew up

poor. Her mother worked as a maid to help support

the family´s eight children.

When she was 8, she suffered a serious injury: She

was shot in the right eye. Living in the racially

divided South, she attended segregated schools.

She graduated in 1965. After college, she worked as

a social worker, teacher and lecturer.

Alice Walker

She fought for equality for all

African-Americans.

Her career as a writer took

flight with the publication of her

third novel The Color Purple in

1982, she won the Pulitzer

Prize with this novel.

Other novels are: In 2004, she published “Now Is

the Time to Open Your Heart”. Two years later, in

2006, she published a collection of essays, “We

Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Light in

a Time of Darkness”, and the well-received picture

book “There Is a Flower at the Tip of My Nose

Smelling Me”. Three years later her story made it to

the big screen: Steven Spielberg directed “The

Color Purple”.

In 2010 she wrote about her experiences with the

group Women for Women. She married activist

Melvyn Leventhal in 1967. The couple had one

daughter, Rebeca Walker, before divorcing in 1976.

She took part in the 1960s Civil Rights movement

in Mississippi. She is important because she wrote

and fought for equality for African-Americans.

Antía Iglesias Iglesias

BENJAMIN BANNEKERI’m going to talk about Benjamin Banneker. He

was a man who did a lot of things during his life.

He was born on November 9, 1731 in Maryland.

He was a son of an ex-slave and a son of a white

woman. His father escaped from slavery. He went

to a small school for a short time. He was taught to

read by his grand-mother. When he was younger,

he made a clock and he studied astronomy.

He was an astronomer and a scientist. He really

struck by that he did. He did almanac with his

astronomical calculations. He published

information of bees and the cycle of locust, too. He

died on the 25 October 1806.

He is an important person because he was one of

the most intelligent people during slavery.

Samuel Deus

BILL RUSSELL

His complete name is William Fenton

Russell. He was born in Monroe, Luisiana

on the 12 of February 1934. He was 2, 07

metres tall and he weighed 102kg. He is

so important in the history of the USA.

When he was a child, he and his family

had a lot of problems with racism. But they

lived normal. In petrol stations, African-

American people would have to wait for a

long time.

He studied at the University of San

Francisco. He always liked basketball. He

played in NBA, as a center with the

number 6. He won a gold medal at the

Olympics in Melbourne in 1956.

He was a model for lots of African-

American children. He shows that your

dreams are so important and you have to

work very hard if you want your dreams to

come true.

Irene Noya

DENZEL WASHINGTON

Denzel Washinton was born on 28 of

December 1984 in New York.

He is very famous because he is an actor

in Hollywood.

He studied journalism at Fordham

University . Denzel Washington married

actress Pauletta Pearson in 1983 and they

have four children. Denzel Washington is

sixty-one years old.

He made his film debut in the comedy A

Carbon Copy.

His most famous films are Man on

Fire, The Book of Eli and American

Gangster, Glory and Training Day.

He appeared in several notable

films throughout the 1990s,

including his first of four Spike Lee

collaborations Mo’ Better Blues

Malcolm X .

He won one Oscar with Glory.

He is a founder member of the

Nelson Mandela Children´s fund. He

has also supported Save Africa´s

Children and Artists for a New

South Africa.

Damián Botana

JAMES BROWN

He had a lot of jobs to earn money when

he was a teenager (15 years old). Later,

his mother left him and he remained with

his father. Without education, James

went to Georgia and worked at polishing

shoes and stealing pieces of cars. Still

young he went to the jail.

Then, when he was 20 years old, he was

adopted by a family, and here was where

He began singing.

James Joseph Brown was born in

Barnwell, South Carolina, United Estates

of America on May 3, 1933 into extreme

poverty.

In 1953 Brown went into “The Starlighters”. He played the drums,

keyboards, organ, percussion and vocal. The group played R&B, Soul

and Funk. He was a social activist too. He was an important person

because he was a very famous singer. Some of his famous songs are

All-Time Greatest Hits!, Live at the Apollo, In the Jungle Groove, Star

Time. He died on the 25th of December 2006 at 73 years old.

Nando Couselo

JIM BROWN

Childhood

• He was born on February 17, in 1936, in Georgia.

• With eight years old, he went to live with his mother in New York.

• Staying there, he started playing football in the Manhasset High School.

His career

• As a running back, he earned national attention.

• In 1957 the Cleveland Browns selected Jim in the national football league. He became thestandard for all NFL running backs.

• In the start of the 1966 season, he annouced his retirement.

• At 30 years old, he left the game and he started a movie career. He appeared in more than 30 films.

Assistance to civil rights

• He also helped to create the Negro Industrial Economic Union in 1960.

• In 1980 he started the Amer-I-Can program, to turn the lives around of young gang members.

Lucas Paz

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is a

famous writer who won

the Nobel Price in

Literature in 1993.

She wrote her first novel,

The Bluest Eye in 1970

and it told the story of a

young African-American

who believes her life

would better if she had

blue eyes.

About her life ...

She was born in Lorian, Ohio on

February,18 in 1931. In the

school Toni Morrison was an

intelligent child and, in 1949

she graduated from Lorian

High School and the same

year she started school at

Harvard University. She was a

professor at university and she

wrote a lot of novels.

They are known for the vivid

dialogues and for the richly

detailed black characters.

Now ...

Now Toni Morrison, at

84 years old, continues

writing novels and the

last novel that she

published was “Home”

in 2012 and it told an

American History.

My opinion

I think that the

world wouldn´t be

the same if people

like Martin Luther

King, Toni Morrison

or Morgan Freeman

weren´t here.

Yago Rey

MALCON XEver think of being a very important person in history and

humanity? Ever think of being an important person in the

nation of Islam?

Malcolm X was a famous person because he was an

African-American leader and an important figure in the

Nation of Islam. He was a civil rights activist. He was a

prominent black nationalist and was also a spokesman for

the Nation of Islam. But shortly before being killed, he split

the group. I choose this person because he defended the

rights of African-American people.

Malcolm X was born on 19th, May, 1925, in Omaha,

Nebraska. Also, he was the son of E.L. a preacher who was

also an active member of the local chapter Universal Negro

Improvement Association.

When he was four years a group of racist

people threatened his father (at gunpoint)

who had to leave home and move to

Michigan. The racist group called themselves

“Ku Klux Klan”. However, in 1929, once in

Michigan they received more threats. A racist

woman set fire to the home of the Littles,

then the family went to the emergency

services, but they refused to help. Two years

later, in 1939, things got much worse. The

father was killed, and the mother, in 1937,

was hospitalized due to the shock, then

Malcolm was alone and had to live with his

friends.

Malcolm X was famous because

he was an African-American

leader and an important figure in

the Nation of Islam. He was a

civil rights activist.

On February, 21, 1965, he was

shot by three men when he was

delivering a speech in New York.

He was 39 years old.

Marcos

MARTIN LUTHER KING

He was a baptist minister and a social

activist. And also he was a leader of civil

rights movement. He was born in the 15 of

January in 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Through his activism he played important

role in ending speech was “I Have a

Dream”.

His father´s name was Michael King and

his mother´s name was Alberta Williams

King. Martin also had an older sister and a

younger brother.

Martin Luther King received a Nobel Peace Prize

in 1964.

In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King

organized a demonstration in Alabama.

He made his famous speech, “I Have a Dream”

on August 28, 1963. And more than 200.000

people watched his speech.

He was assassinated in 1968. Ray assassinated

Martin Luther King and was sentenced to 99

years in prison. He died in prison on April 23,

1998.

MAYA ANGELOUMaya Angelou was born on April,4 in 1928

in St. Louis, Missouri.

Angelou was an African-American woman

and she fought for civil rights. She

experienced racial prejudices and

discrimination in Arkansas.

During a visit with her mother she was

raped by her mother´s boyfriend.

Then, as vengeance for sexual assault,

Angelou´s uncle killed the boyfriend,

therefore Maya began to fight for civil

rights.

Angelou died on May 28 in 2014.

Brais Bouzas

NINA SIMONE

Did you never think that through songs injustices could be denounced? Nina Simone did it.

Nina was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. She played the piano and sang at 4 years old. When she finished high school she obtained a scholarship to study piano. She had piano classes but she left it because she didn´t have any money.

When she wanted to enter a University to continue studying, she couldn´t because she was an African-American. And years later, she denounced them. After some time she started to sing in bars, songs for the rights of the black people. She was a Civil Rights activist and a journalist too. She sang jazz, blues and folk music.

She recorded her first album in 1958. She dedicated part of her life to make songs for the rights of African-American people. Some of her most famous songs are: Feeling Good, Sinner man and My baby just cares for me. She died in France on April 21, 2003.

Laura

RAY CHARLESRay Charles Robinson was the real name

of Ray Charles. He was an African-

American singer, songwriter, musician and

composer. But he was a defender of the

African-American’s rights too.

Charles, the Genius’’, was born on 23

September 1930 in Alabama. He was blind

at the age of seven as a result of a

glaucoma. Charles started to play the

piano in a blind school, but he was more

interesting in the jazz or blues music he

heard on the family radio than classical

music.

When he finished the school, he moved to

Jacksonville, where Charles played the

piano for $4 a night. In 1947 played the

piano for Charlie Brantley's Honey

drippers and at the same time was in a

band called The Florida Playboys. In April

1949, Charles and his band (in this time

was Mc Son Trio) recorded "Confession

Blues", and this became his first national

hit.

Then he recorded his own songs and do

same duets with important singers like

George Jones or Chet Atkins.

Olaya Dubra

On June 10, 2004 Charles died in

his house of Los Angeles.

ROSA PARKS

Her name is Rosa Parks but her full name is Rosa Louise McCauley. She was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama . As the bus Rosa was riding continued on its route, it began to fill with white passenger that had to stand in the aisle.

The driver stopped the bus and moved

the sign separating the two sections back

one row she and remained seated the

driver demanded,” why don´t you stand

up?” to which Rosa replied,” I don´t think

I should have to stand up “then the driver

called the police and had her arrested.

The police arrested Rosa at the scene

and charged her violation of law. Rosa

Parks was a very important because she

fought for civil rights in America. Rosa

Parks died on 6 October in 2005.

Alex Vásquez

TONI MORRISONHave you ever read any books from the writer Toni Morrison ?

Toni Morrison won the Novel Prize in literature and she also

won the Pulitzer Prize.

She was the first African – American woman who received a

Novel Prize in 1993.

Toni Morrison was born on February 18 , in 1931, in Lorain,

Ohio.

She lived with her father, George Wofford and her mother

Ramah. Her father was a welder and her mother was a

domestic worker. Toni was the second oldest of four children.

Her own name is Chloe Anthony wofford but she was called

Toni Morrison because she married Harold Morrison in

1958. She graduated from Lorain High School in 1949. At

Howad University , Tony continued her interest in Literature.

She was the only black person in the class.

Everybody treated her badly. In 1957, Toni

returned to Harvard to teach English.

Her first novel “ The Bluest Eye “ was published

in 1970. Her next novel “ Sula (1973) “ , was

nominated for the American Book Award. In 1993

she received the Novel Prize. She wrote a lot of

novels along the years.

I think she is a very important person because in

her novels she writes about black people´s life

specially women and she praises the black

people.

Nerea González

Rebecca Cole

I am going to talk about Rebecca Cole, an

African American doctor. She was the

second African American woman to

become a doctor.

Rebecca was born on March 16, 1846, in

Philadelphia. She overcame racial and

gender barriers. She attended the Institute

for Colored Youth, graduating in 1863. She

then went on to graduate from the

Women’s Medical College of

Pennsylvania.

She went to practice in South Carolina. Then she

returned to Philadelphia, and in 1873 opened a

Women’s Directory Centre to provide medical and

legal services to women. In January 1899, she was

appointed superintendent of a home, run by the

Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women

and Children in Washington D.C.

Rebecca died in August, 1922 at the age of 76.

I think Rebecca Cole was an interesting person to talk

about her, because she managed to be a doctor in her

timing.

Nerea Portos

MUHAMMAD ALIMuhammad Ali is considered one of the

greatest athletes in boxing history, winning

both the coveted Golden Gloves title and

an Olympic gold medal, among several

other honors.

Synopsis

Boxer, philanthropist and social activist

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius

Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in

Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali won all of his bouts in the 1960s, the

majority of them by knockout. Since his

retirement, Ali has devoted much of his

time to philanthropy.

Early Life

At the age of 12, Ali discovered his talent for

boxing through an odd twist of fate. His bike was

stolen, and Ali told a police officer, Joe Martin,

that he wanted to beat up the thief. In addition to

being a police officer, Martin also trained young

boxers at a local gym.

Ali started working with Martin to learn how to

box, and soon began his boxing career. In his

first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by

split decision. Ali went on to win the 1956 Golden

Gloves tournament for novices in the light

heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the

National Golden Gloves Tournament of

Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic

Union's national title for the light-heavyweight

division.

Conversion to Islam

He was doing some spiritual searching and

decided to join the black Muslim group, the

Nation of Islam, in 1964. Two years later, Ali

refused to acknowledge his military service after

being drafted. He said that he was a practicing

Muslim minister, and that his religious beliefs

prevented him from fighting in the Vietnam War.

In 1967, Ali put his personal values ahead of his

career. The U.S. Department of Justice pursued a

legal case against Ali, denying his claim for

conscientious objector status. He was found guilty

of refusing to be inducted into the military.

Professionally, however, Ali did not fare as well.

The boxing association took away his title and

suspended him from the sport for three and a half

years.

Muhammad Ali is considered one of the greatest athletes in boxing

history, winning both the Golden Gloves title and an Olympic gold medal,

among several other honors.

He returned to the ring in 1970 and his

career started to decline in 1980. He

announced his retirement from boxing in

1981.

Samuel Vieites

2º ESOCPI VIAÑO PEQUEÑO

TRAZO