Ava DuVernay was born on August 24, 1972, within Long Beach California. DuVernay was instilled with the desire to explore her love of the arts by her aunt Denise in her early years. Her aunt was a registered nurse who worked night shifts so that she could devote the day to literature, art, theater and other interests. DuVernay liked the film West Side Story, which she taught her. DuVernay was educated by her mother about how art could serve to promote activism. DuVernay was additionally taught by her mom who was social conscience and advised DuVernay to express herself through art. DuVernay, who grew up alongside her extended family at Compton, spent each summer at Lowndes County Alabama in the house of her father's family. Her father was awed by the Civil Rights marches that were historic over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in the nearby town of Selma Alabama. The summers DuVernay spent there would later inspire her to direct a movie on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his Civil Ri