Ava DuVernay is a Californian born in Long beach on the 24th of August, 1972. In her early years, DuVernay's Aunt Denise was a great influence on her enthusiasm for artwork and inspiration. The aunt was on the night shift as a nurse, so she could indulge her passion for theater and art in the daytime. DuVernay was first introduced to the film West Side Story by her aunt. DuVernay discovered through her example that art can be an effective tool for social change. DuVernay was educated by her mother who had a strong moral compass and urged DuVernay to express herself through art. DuVernay lived in Lowndes County Alabama, where DuVernay's father was born, and was raised. DuVernay's father remembered watching the historic Civil Rights protest through the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in close proximity to Selma Alabama. Her summers in Alabama's Selma led her later on to make a film about Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the year 1990, DuVernay graduated from Saint