Ava DuVernay, born August 24, 1972, born within Long Beach California. DuVernay lived with her aunt Denise and her mother, who pushed DuVernay to be creative and drawn by the arts. Aunt Denise worked the night shift in the role of a nurse so that she could follow her passion for art literature and theater during the day. DuVernay enjoyed the film West Side Story, which she was able to introduce her. DuVernay was educated by her mother about how the art form could be utilized as an instrument for activism. Similar to DuVernay's mom, she was well-educated and encouraged how to express herself by using the arts. DuVernay was raised together with her parents in Compton, spent each summer in Lowndes County Alabama in the family home of her father. Her father recalled watching the historic Civil Rights protest through the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in the nearby town of Selma Alabama. DuVernay would use the summers she spent there to inspire her film Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. DuVernay earn...