Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou should be on the twenty dollar bill because she influenced women around
the world, constantly encouraging them to be strong and not to give up when they feel all hope
is lost. As a young girl, Maya was the victim of sexual assault, which influenced her to become a
mute. In her later years, Maya wrote I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, which won the first
non-fiction best seller written by an African-American woman. In her poem, she tries to describe
women and their identities in a male-dominated society. Mayas poems are often related to
issues like race and sex on a larger social and psychological scale. Since the voice of a black
woman didn't matter,her words and actions stood out as an act of perseverance against
society's rules. Maya was the first black woman to be a movie director. She wrote the
screenplay and a musical; her is film G
eorgia,
Georgia. She was also a role model to young
black women.
Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock should be put on the ten dollar bill because he was a very important
part of our society. Jackson Pollock was someone who was greatly appreciated in the 20th
century because of his artistic talent. Despite the fact that he did not receive much attention
from his family when he was young, he was one of the most influential American painters in the
20th century. He created a new form of art (which is now known as drip). This opened doors for
many young artists at the time. Also, when his art started to become more well known, he drew
attention to the broader group of Abstract Expressionists. Jackson had a very difficult life, his
parents divorced which made him depressed, but he still managed to prevail and exhibit the art
that he had created. He was an inspiration to people who were depressed. He showed them
that even though life could be very hard, people had to keep trying and find something that
allowed them to express and alleviate that pain.
Kara Walker
Kara Walker is a very well known artist who started painting when she was very little.
This was because her father, Larry Walker, was also an artist. By the age of three, she had
already decided that she was going to become an artist when she grew up. She created pieces
of art in order to tell a story, not to be beautiful. Kara Walker has produced works in ochre
gouaches, video animation, shadow puppets, and "magic-lantern" projections, as well as a
number of black-paper silhouettes. She is best known for cut-paper silhouettes that address
race, gender, sexuality, and power. Her visual language is applicable throughout the world, it
reminds people of the power that art has to tell a story of its own. She earned a Bachelor
Degree of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking. She is currently serving a five-year term as
Tepper Chair in Visual Arts at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Kara
Walker should be on the blank dollar bill because with her art she helps people visualize some
of the more difficult events that occur in the world.
Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold is a painter, a writer, an author, and a Civil Rights Activist. Ringgold's
artistic skills were diverse and her art was making stories on quilts. The reason why Ringgold
became an artist was because she wanted to tell her story. She grew up in Harlem, where she

spent most of her time with her mother, which always encouraged her to value who she was,
and to go after what she wanted. Ringgold was a Womens Rights and a Civil Rights Activists.
Ringgold has been an activist since the 1970s, participating in several feminist and anti-racist
organizations. She supported Angela Davis and The Black Panthers, the group who believed in
the non-violent civil rights campaign with Martin Luther King. Later in her life, she wrote
children's books to share her vision and magic that the children have shown to her. The reason
why Ringgold should be on a bill is because, even though some of her professors tried to stop
her from being an artist, she still persevered. Which is a great example to many people, not just
artists. Today, she is an art teacher at UCSD.
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson is a musician, performance artist, composer, and film director who
plays the violin,keyboard and enjoyed inventing several devices that she has used in her
recordings and performances. She invented experimental musical instruments such as the
tape-bow violin, talking stick, and voice filters. She created an opening ceremony for the
olympics. She was the first artist to be invited to visit the moon. Anderson did her first
performance-art piece in the late 1960s. Then, throughout the 1970s, Anderson did a variety of
different performance art activities. She became widely known outside the art world in 1981
when her single "O Superman" reached number two on the UK pop charts. Laurie was awarded
the, Gish Prize in 2007 for her outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world,mankind's
enjoyment and understanding of life. Despite many obstacles that got into Laurie Andersons
path, she currently continues to share her art and life experiences with the world.
Alice Walker
Alice Walker once said, One thing I try to have in my life and my fiction is an awareness
of and openness to mystery, which, to me, is deeper than politics, race, or geographical
location. Alice

Walker is well known for writing the novel T

he Color Purple, which won the
Pulitzer Prize. She has also written short fiction books and various essays. In her essays,
Walker approaches the word womanist, and defines it as a black feminist who cherishes the
creativity, emotional flexibility, and strength of a woman. Walkers writing is based on
economical hardship, wisdom of the African- American culture, and racial terror. In most of
Walkers writings, her main themes and focuses are rape, violence, isolation, troubled
relationships, sexism, and racism. However, she also writes about self-worth, strengths of
family, community, and spirituality. In her younger years, she was a strong Civil Rights Activist.
Walker attended Spelman College, where her interest in civil rights started. She also attended
the Youth World Peace Festival and was invited to Martin Luther Kings home in recognition of
attending the festival.