Alvin+Ailey

http://www.alvinailey.org/ When I came upon this sentence I thought to myself, "what is Alvin Ailey?" I thought it was a place but when I did research I realized it is in fact a place but also a person. Alvin Ailey; was a dancer who was very was an inspirational person. He was unique for his era. In knowing this it tells me what Angelou is talking about. When she says "dance on Alvin Ailey and get down Jesse Jackson." I know she has a pupose to what she is writing because those people were very revolutionary African Americans. Also knowing what Alvin Ailley did in creating a famous dance studio and how much of an impact he made makes it even more powerful because here, this great dancer influenced many but then she asks ain't that bad because he's black? This line really got me thinking that knowing about him, not just knowing he was a great dancer, but because the greatest part of a legacy in my mind is the after math of your work and how you inspire others. It made me really think about Maya Angelou as a person and think of some of her heros and heroines. It allows me to really relate to her as a poet knowing the people that inspire her not just hearing the names and think about the people. But understanding what made them inspire her. I was also glad to know she was not talking about someone random because in my mind that would have ruined the poem and made it less personal because it is like when poets write things that are really random, or uses someone's name that the reader cannot identify,it makes the poem less enjoyable. So it seems more like a journal entry, not a poem. Something written for one's personal benefit. Browsing the Alvin Ailey dance studio site was cool because there are many dancers decades after Alvin Ailey's prime who today are still inspired by him as a person. Also the studio itself it pretty grand which shows me how grand a career he must have had. It was helpful to do such research because I now really understand better where Maya Angelou is comming from.