Ava DuVernay and Autumn Riley

Ava DuVernay, born August 24, 1972 in Long Beach California. DuVernay was motivated to pursue her love of art by her aunt Denise as a young girl. Aunt Denise was a nurse who was a night shift worker so she could devote her days to literature, theatre, and art. DuVernay fell in love with the 1961 film West Side Story after her aunt introduced her to DuVernay. DuVernay learnt by doing that art can be a powerful vehicle to engage in activism. DuVernay's mother also had the social sensitivity and taught DuVernay to express herself by means of art. DuVernay resided in Compton throughout her life, but was able to spend summers with the extended family of her father located in Lowndes County Alabama. The father of DuVernay's mother recalled protests for civil rights that took place across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the nearby town of Selma, Alabama. The time spent in Selma, Alabama during the summer, was later the inspiration to direct a movie about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his Civil Rights Movement. DuVernay graduated with a graduation certificate from Saint Joseph High School, Lakewood California in 1990. She attended University of California Los Angeles to obtain degrees in English and African American Studies. DuVernay was a college student at the time she began to become interested in production for television journalism. Her career began as an assistant for CBS News in the O.J. Simpson trial. DuVernay recalls being tasked to observe the house of one of the members of the jury as well as look through their trash. Her work left her dissatisfied by journalism and she decided to shift her focus towards the publicity industry. DuVernay was hired right out of college as an assistant publicist in an unassuming studio. She was promoted to the position and set up her own company for public relations named The DuVernay Agency in 1999. Apart from PR, the agency also launched several social media and lifestyle networks, including Urban Beauty Collective, the Urban Beauty Collective, Urban Thought Collective, Urban Eye and HelloBeautiful. Autumn Riley.............................Autumn Riley was born in Los Angeles United States. Her birth name is . The actress is well-known for her role in American Experience, (1987) A More Perfect Union and A More Perfect Union (2009). Autumn was Rose as Rose in A More Perfect Union, as well as Anna Payne in American Experience.