Maya Angelou: An Influential Writer

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

Maya Angelou was originally born Marguerite Anne Johnson, but she was known as Maya Angelou.. Maya Angelou, born on April 4, 1928, is the youngest daughter of Vivian Baxter Johnson and Bailey Johnson. Maya Angelou’s parents split while she was young; therefore, she and her older brother, Bailey , had to go live with their father’s mother, Anne Henderson , in Stamps , Arkansas. Maya Angelou’s older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed Marguerite “Maya”, derived from “My” or “Mya Sister”. At the age of eight, Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, while visiting her mother. As a result to Angelou’s rape, her uncle killed her mother’s boyfriend. Maya Angelou was so shaken up about the incident that she stopped talking for five years. When she returned to the state of Arkansas, she was a virtual

Marguerite Johnson, known as Maya Angelou, was not only famous for writing poetry but she also served as a Civil Rights Activist. Her other occupations were being an actress, dancer, including an exotic dancing (Maya Angelou Is Born), and an author. When she was working at the strip club a theatre group which help her with her acting career. They helped her get a role in the infamous Porgy and Bess and Calypso Heat Wave (Maya Angelou Biography). Around that time, she started producing albums, which later got her a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Audio version, writing biographies, poetry. Later, in her adult life, she won two NAACP image awards, Emmy award, for the mini-series Roots, and three Grammy’s (Maya Angelou Biography). Unfortunately, She

As an acclaimed poet, storyteller, and activist, Maya Angelou has contributed outstanding works to American literature. With over 50 honorary doctorate degrees, Dr. Maya Angelou has become one of the most influential voices of our time. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Stamps, Arkansas. During the 1930’s and 1940’s in Stamps, Angelou witnessed and experienced racial discrimination in the South.

Oftentimes, one's past experiences influence their future. Marguerite Ann Johnson, also known as Maya Angelou was an African-American writer who was born in the late 1920s. Growing up in the south as a black woman shaped her bold nature and author persona. Her works often touch upon the momentous events that occurred in her childhood, struggles as a woman of color, and personal reflections. As an author, Angelou wrote novels, autobiographies, poems, essays, children's books, plays, and recordings.

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.

“Today, [my wife] Michelle and I join millions around the world in remembering one of the brightest lights of our time – a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman.” (Statement). This memorial statement, by former president Barack Obama in 2014, encompasses the feelings that he and many others had towards Maya Angelou, one of the most influential writers and voices of her generation. Over the course of her lifetime, over 50 honorary degrees, including the highest American civilian honor, were awarded to Angelou. She is most recognized for her autobiographical and poetic writings. Angelou’s poetic works, specifically, “Phenomenal Woman,” reflect her self-admiration. Her confidence is credited to the overcoming of

When it comes to the struggles of a black woman, Maya Angelou is one of the best writers to interpret these struggles and to have the ability to put them into books and poems. The way Maya Angelou writes just makes you feel as if you were with here through all of the pain and sorrow. Not a lot of authors have the ability to do such a thing. Maya Angelou has the ability to write all of these amazing books and poems because of her past experiences. Although Maya Angelou went through struggles in her life, her powerful poems and stories have affected literature worldwide

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the second child of Bailey Johnson and Vivian Baxter Johnson. Her father worked as a doorman and a navy dietician, and Angelou’s mother worked as a nurse and card dealer. Her birth name was Marguerite Annie Johnson, but she got the name “Maya” from her brother Bailey Jr. (“Maya Angelou”)

Joanne M. Braxton described her and her literature as "America's most visible black woman autobiographer. While black women writers might share traditional motivations for writing autobiography, other motives derive from their unique experiences. And yet, against all odds, she comes to self-awareness and finds herself at the center of her own experience. Maya Angelou has tempered her own anger and put it to a constructive purpose; her work specks to the necessity of reflecting, remembering, opening, healing, and, at times, issuing a warning. In I know Why the Caged Birds Sings, she focuses almost entirely on the inner spaces of her emotional and personal life, crafting a "literary" autobiography that becomes not merely a personal record but also a stage on which the sins of the past can be recalled and rituals of healing and reconciliation enacted." (Braxton, Joann, page 4)

Maya Angelou is one of the most influential and talented African American writers of our modern day. Those who read Angelou‘s works should not pass the thought of where her influence came from. Maya Angelou’s work has been heavily affected by the era in which she began to write. The fifties and sixties were a tumultuous time for most African-Americans in the US. The civil-rights movement, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, was instrumental in securing legislation, notably the Civil-Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Names such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, E.B. DuBois, and Malcolm X are all brought to mind when discussing the struggles that African Americans have been involved in since the 1800s. All of these people were significant speakers who heavily influenced Americans of all skin colors. Maya Angelou is similar to those great black leaders in the way she influences others. Angelou’s contributions to American literature is superlative. She fought racism, segregation, and sexism without losing her optimism, thus, making her a true woman of inspiration.

Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. This was the year that Mickey Mouse and penicillin were born as well. Furthermore, Amelia Earhart and Jazz were at the height

The novelist, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, dancer, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has culturally affected the literature world in many ways. Her talents didn’t spontaneously arise but a lamentable childhood molded them. However, Angelou has enhanced her life as an adult by climbing to the top of the New York Times best-sellers list with her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

When you become an author, actress, screenwriter, dancer and a poet all at a young age I guess you are just bound for greatness.Maya Angelou found a way to open eyes and change lives, all with just her writings (Bio.com 2015). She grew up with the mindset of victory, because as she said, “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude” (BrainyQuote 2017).Maya Angelou's name actually derived from her childhood nickname,Maya, and a shortened version of Greek sailor,(Anastasios) Angelopulos (Bio.com 2015).Receiving over forty award during her career, I guess you can say she was one of the greatest black poets that ever lived (Liquid Search Editors 2017).