Ava DuVernay and Autumn Riley

Ava DuVernay was born on August 24, 1972, in Long Beach California. DuVernay learned to love art from her grandmother Denise. Aunt Denise was a nurse and was a night shift worker so she could dedicate her time to art literature and theatre. The aunt introduced DuVernay to the film of 1961 West Side Story and DuVernay fell in love with it. DuVernay was taught by her mother that art can be used to promote activism. Her mother was also a an awareness of social issues and showed DuVernay how to convey messages through art. DuVernay was a child living with family members in Compton, spent each summer at Lowndes County Alabama in the house of her father's family. DuVernay's Dad recalled seeing the historic civil right's march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge near the town of Selma Alabama. The summers DuVernay spent there inspired her later to make a film about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. DuVernay graduated from Saint Joseph High School at Lakewood in California in the year 1990. Following graduation, DuVernay enrolled in the University of California Los Angeles and earned degrees both in English and African American study. DuVernay began to produce in broadcast journalism when she was in her college. She worked as a CBS News intern during the O.J. Simpson trial. DuVernay was assigned to the watch and search the home of an individual Jury member. When she was dissatisfied with journalism due to the work she was given and deciding to go after a career in publicity. DuVernay began her career as a junior public relations assistant at a small film studio, right after graduating from the college. From this position she started her own public relations company called The DuVernay Agency in 1999. The agency was the first to launch a variety of promotional and lifestyle networks, including Urban Beauty Collective and Urban Eye. Autumn Riley.............................Autumn Riley was born in Los Angeles United States. Her birth name is . Autumn Riley is a famous American actress best known by her roles in American Experience (1997) and A More Perfect Union (2009). Autumn was in the roles of Rose in A More Perfect Union (2009) and Anna Payne, in American Experience (1987).