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Maya Angelou 5

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Maya Angelou is a phenomenal woman. She was born into a devastating decade, that suffered numerous tragedies. Not only had society shaped her as a woman, she has also shaped our society and influenced many lives. She is still living today, yet I believe her legend will never die. Furthermore I will share with you what motivated her and some of her gratifying experiences. How she was effected by society, and what she did about it. Also how the time period she was born into made her the extraordinary woman she is today. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, a year before the crash of 29 (the stock market crash). To get a sense of what exactly Maya was born into, I will explain what exactly this meant. This was the start of the …show more content…

She didn’t like the fame, so she moved to Washington, where she met Bilie Holiday, She and Bilie became good friends. She is also a dedicated worker for equal rights, where, at the request of Martian Luther King Jr. served as a northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership conference. She also acted in the television version of Roots (1977) and has appeared in many other television shows, she has also been on many Talk Shows, including Oprah, where some of her books are a part of Oprahs cook club. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the commission of the International Women’s Year and served as a board member of the American Film Institute and as an Administrator in the music department of the University of Ghana. She studied dance with Martha Graham and Drama with Frank Silvera and went on to a career in theatre. She toured Europe and Africa with a road show of Porgy and Bess. In 1992, President re- elect Clinton asked Maya to compose a poem for his inauguration, just as JFK had done with Robert Frost in 1961. She delivered a stunning piece at the culmination of the Jan 1993 ceremony. During the 1060’s she lived ion Egypt where she was the associate editor of the Arab Observer in Cario. From 1964 to 1966, she was a feature editor of the African Review. Today Maya lectures in the United States and abroad. She is also a Reynolds professor of American Studies at Wake

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