A Brief Biography of Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is a leading literary voice of the African-American community. She writes of the triumph of the human spirit over hardship and adversity. “Her style captures the ca-dences and aspirations of African American women whose strength she celebrates.” (Library of Chattanooga State, n. d.) Maya has paved the way for children who has had a damaged

Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri (1928) as Marguerite Johnson; however she grew up in Stamps, Arkansas where her grandmother ran a general store. Angelou has acted and written several plays, poems, and a six-part autobiography “I Know Why the caged Bird Sings” making her one of this country’s foremost black writers. In this story Angelou tells about how her grandmother (momma) triumphs over a pack of taunting neighborhood children. I feel very strongly about this particular piece given the time set and the way black people were treated by the whites, and how without harsh words or threats some black people overcame the taunting and cruelties of the whites.

Marguerite Annie Johnson (better known as Maya Angelou) was born April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou’s childhood was overwhelmed by turmoil. After her parents’ divorce, Angelou and her older brother Bailey were sent to her paternal grandmother’s home in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou’s time in Arkansas exposed her to the brutality and racial discrimination of the south. It is also provided her grandmother Annie Henderson with a chance to teach Angelou about Christian values, respect, independence, courage, and forgiveness.

Maya Angelou was an inspiring activist, poet, and woman. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. Throughout her lifetime she explored her career options as an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and editor among many other careers. Angelou had a tough childhood. Her parents divorced when she was very young and she was sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas along with her brother Bailey. As an African American, Angelou experienced discrimination and racial prejudices. Angelou gave birth to her son Guy, at the age of sixteen and married her first husband Tosh Angelos, at the age of twenty-four. Angelou and Tosh divorced years later however, she did get married a couple of more times. Angelou experienced many

Born April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou's given name was Marguerite Johnson, Maya and her brother Bailey spent most of their childhood living with their grandmother in rural Arkansas. Maya grew up in Stamps and learned what it was like to be a black girl in a world whose boundaries were set by whites. After five years of living with her grandmother she moved back to her mother's home in Missouri. This was a bad turn for her, when her mothers' boyfriend raped her. This violent act

Dr. Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father, Baily Johnson, was a doorman, and, later a dietician for the navy. Her mother, Vivian Johnson, was a registered nurse. When Angelou was three years old, her parents were divorced. They sent her and her four-year-old brother, Baily, Jr., to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas. Henderson ran a small general store and managed to scrape by. She continued to do so after her grandchildren joined her. Angelou's grandmother was one the many strong who trained her, helped her, and provided her with role models. The people of her church also nurtured her and gave her a sense of belonging to a community. But her

Maya Angelou was born on April 28, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri to Bailey and Vivian Johnson. Her given name was Marguerite Ann Johnson, but she was nicknamed “Maya” by her older brother. Over the course of her life, Angelou had many jobs ranging from a fry cook to a sex worker. She broke through as both an author and poet with her publication of her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. (Wikipedia.com) From that point on, Maya Angelou would become a very prominent figure in American literature.

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Anne Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her brother, Bailey could not pronounce her name when he was little, so he called her Mya Sister, then My, which eventually became Maya. When she was only three years old, her parents separated and sent their children to live in Stamps, Arkansas with their grandmother, Annie. At the age of fifteen, Maya began her career as a civil-rights activist of sorts. She battled racism and became the first African American hired to the position of streetcar conductor in San Francisco.

Louis. The man who assaulted her was her mother boyfriend, who was later found dead. He was “kicked to death” the same night of the incident (Bloom 3). The incident concluded with five years of silence for Maya (Eller, 2). Maya’s rape incident was compared to the suffering of the African American community in the South during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Edward Eller, an assistant professor of English at Northeast Louisiana University writes that; “Just as the child had to give in to her rapist because she has no choice but to endure and survive, the blacks had no choice” (Eller, 2). The fight for Maya to fulfill her American Dream of finding a home, and being accepted into American society goes hand in hand with the fight for civil rights for the African American society. Eller states that Angelou’s voice through her literature showed African Americans that they could overcome racism and segregation; “Because Angelou shows us we can do more than endure. We can Triumph” (Eller, 2). Young Angelou along with the blacks in the South were looking for a place to call home, together they searched for a place where they belonged, were they fit in.

Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928. Her real name is Marguerite Johnson, but she later changed it to Maya. She was born in St. Louis, shortly after her birth her family up and move to Arkansaw. Maya grew up there in the rural parts of Arkansaw, and later married to a South African Freedom Fighter. She lived in Cairo with him, there she began her career as editor of the Arab Observer.

Finally, Marguerite was imprisoned because of her unfortunate sexual experiences as a child. It goes without saying that when Maya was rapped she already been caught, and not talking to anyone and blaming Mr. Freeman’s death on herself just made it worse. Furthermore, Ms. Angelou had a rather odd

(Angelou Pg.70). Already at this point in her life many people around her were already telling her that she had grown up already. She was horrified by the experience not only from being raped but also having one of her loved ones threatened, she did not want to tell absolutely anyone because Mr. Freeman had threatened Bailey’s life. Having loved ones threatened is not something that anyone should experience at any age let alone an eight year old. Another thing that really affected Maya is she had to go to a trial and had to relive her experience in front of a judge and jury.

Maya Angelou is one out of the best known poets. She has written a lot of poems that inspires and assist people with their lives. She has a “desire humbleness to learn and experience all that life has to offer her” (gale biography in context, “Maya Angelou More than a Poet”) which makes her poems have a meaning to them. In addition, Maya Angelou got a lot of pieces of poems considered equality to her experience as a human of the United States during race times and her experience as a person who worked with other civil right activist. Maya Angelou uses deep themes that leaves the reader to think about the topic is being talked about. In her poem, “Still I Rise” she talks metaphorically about discrimination. In the poem, it states, “does my haughtiness offend you? ( the poetry foundation, “Maya Angelou”). This quote from the poem shows how the rest of the poem is about people believe they is better than other people and that the other people should suffer because they are inferior to the people, but the people being abused should not be embarrassed of who they are and be thankful for life(“Maya Angelou More than a Poet 1”).

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014) was an American author, actress, screenwriter dancer and poet. She was known for her memoir, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings (bibography.com). “Her parents divorced when she was only three and she was sent with her brother Bailey to live with their grandmother in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, the young girl experienced the racial discrimination that was the legally enforced way of life in the American

Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, portrays the African American experience through stories of her childhood and early adulthood during the 1940s-1960s. Angelou grew up with her grandmother, Momma, in a segregated town named Stamps where she learned what growing up African American really meant. In this time period the Civil Rights Act was not yet passed, therefore racism and discrimination was at an all time high. Angelou along with countless other African Americans were forced to deal with ignorant whites. Growing up in this society was challenging for Angelou, she did not accept herself as she was and wished to be white at times. Despite the hardships, she learned to believe in herself and became proud of who she was (Angelou).