Died: May 28, 2014 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Best known for: Her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Biography:
Where did Maya Angelou grow up?
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her closest family member and friend growing up was her older brother Bailey. When Maya was three years old, she went to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya and her four year old brother traveled to Arkansas all by themselves on a train.
While living with her grandmother, Maya's uncle taught her to read. Maya was a smart girl who loved to read. Her favorite thing in the world was books and the stories they told her.
When Maya was still a baby, her brother Bailey called her "My Sister." However, it came out like "Maya Sister." Eventually, he just started calling her "Maya" and the nickname stuck. She got the last name "Angelou" from her first husband.
Maya is Hurt
When Maya was seven, she moved back to St. Louis to live with her mother. While living there, her mother's boyfriend hurt Maya very badly. Not long after telling her mother about it, the boyfriend was shot and killed. Maya thought that she had caused the man's death with her voice. She felt so bad that she didn't speak for the next five years.
Early Career
Maya continued to move around the country. She graduated from high school in California and then began to work a variety of jobs including fry cook, waitress, cable-car conductor, and dancer. Maya was a talented dancer, singer, and actress. She became fairly famous for her acting and even toured Europe as part of the cast of the opera Porgy and Bess.
Civil Rights Activist
During the 1960s, Maya worked as a civil rights activist. She first worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and became the Northern coordinator for his organization, the SCLC. Later, she worked for Malcolm X, but was devastated when he was assassinated. She continued to work for the rights of African-Americans and women throughout her career.
Becoming a Famous Writer
Although Maya had a lot of interests and careers, her true love was writing. She always worked on and off as a writer. At first, she considered herself a playwright and a poet, but that changed in 1968 when she attended a dinner party. At the party, Maya told some stories from her early life. Some people at the party encouraged her to write her story.
In 1969, Maya published her first autobiography called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The book tells the story of her life up until the age of seventeen. In the book, Maya captures the many struggles she went through growing up as an African-American woman in the mid-1900s. She also shows how she overcame these issues through character, books, and words.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings became a huge success and was on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years. It made Maya an international star and allowed her to write full time.
Maya Angelou at President Bill Clinton's inauguration from the Clinton Library
Famous Works
Some of Maya Angelou's most famous works include:
Autobiographies
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Gather Together in My Name
Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas
Maya Angelou (born April 4, 1928, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.—died May 28, 2014, Winston-Salem, North Carolina) was an American poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression.
Poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou was a world-famous author. She was best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical writing style. On April 4, 1928, Marguerite Ann Johnson, known to the world as Maya Angelou, was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
Angelou married three times in her life. The first, to Greek carpenter Tosh Angelos (1949-52), the second to South African activist Vusumzi L. Make (1960-63) and the third to carpenter Paul du Feu (1973-80).
She also suffered violence at home when she was around the age of 7. During a visit with her mother, Maya was raped by her mother's boyfriend. As vengeance for the sexual assault, her uncles killed the boyfriend. Young Maya was so traumatized by the experience that she stopped talking.
Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today. He was once asked what it was like growing up in Maya Angelou's shadow, and he said, “I always thought I was in her light.” Years later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn't conceive. Isn't it wonderful that I had a child at 16?
Angelou had a broad career as a singer, dancer, actress, composer, and Hollywood's first female black director, but became most famous as a writer, editor, essayist, playwright, and poet. As a civil rights activist, Angelou worked for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
She was hailed as an internationally regarded figure for her role as a civil rights leader who fought for social and racial justice. Angelou resided in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for over thirty years.
Freeman was found guilty but was jailed for only one day. Four days after his release, he was murdered, probably by Angelou's uncles. Angelou became mute for almost five years, believing she was to blame for his death; as she stated: "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name.
It has been a year since Maya Angelou's only son, Guy Johnson, passed. We continue to grieve and celebrate their lives and reflect on their bond. Not only did Maya Angelou's son grow up in his mother's light, but he was nourished by her words.
In 1952, she married a Greek sailor named Anastasios Angelopulos. When she began her career as a nightclub singer, she took the professional name Maya Angelou, combining her childhood nickname with a form of her husband's name. Although the marriage did not last, her performing career flourished.
Ms. Angelou had heart ailments and had been in declining health for years. She established her literary reputation in 1970 with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," a memoir detailing the racism and abuse she endured during her harrowing childhood.
If Maya Angelou died when she was 20, she would've died a prostitute & single mom. If Malcolm X died when he was 20, he would've died as Detroit Red, a thief, a woman beater & drug addict. People's mistakes often lead to their great destiny.
Although she had no daughters, and gave birth to a son (Guy Johnson), which she called "the best thing that ever happened to me in my life", many women in Angelou's career looked to her as a mother figure.
Around 1950, Angelou, then a calypso dancer, changed her name from Marguerite Johnson to the more theatrical Maya Angelou. From 1954 to 1955, Angelou toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess, and three years later, she moved to New York City in order to concentrate on her writing career.
Angelou wrote a total of seven autobiographies. According to scholar Mary Jane Lupton, Angelou's third autobiography Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas marked the first time a well-known African American autobiographer had written a third volume about her life.
Maya Angelou was a U.S. writer, performer, and professor. She was best known for her poetry and several books based on her life, especially I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970).
The life experiences of the richly talented Maya Angelou are the cornerstone of her stories. Her stories trace the foundations of her identity as a twentieth-century Black American woman.
Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
