Maya Angelou Biography

Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou had a difficult childhood growing up. Her parents got a divorce when she was

Have you ever thought about becoming a singer, poet, dancer, screenwriter, journalist, civil rights activist, and a memoirist all in a lifetime? Well Maya Angelou did just that. She first began as a singer and dancer, next she became a journalist and civil right activist, and then she later became a memoirist, screenwriter, and a poet. She met many other role models and even fundraised for Martin Luther King Jr. She was also honored for different kinds of awards.

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, named at birth, Marguerite Johnson was on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her and her family moved from St. Louis to Stamps, Arkansas, where she was raised growing up. Maya Angelou was an American author, dancer, screenwriter, actress, poet and civil rights activist. Angelou gained a majority of her fame with the memoir she wrote in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This memoir made literary history as being the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. Angelou received many awards and honors throughout her entire career. These awards included two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009. Angelou became one of the most legendary and influential

Maya Angelou is a phenomenal woman. She rises through all things that come her way and she refuses to back down. Angelou chose at a very young age to be a writer and a role model for many people. She believes that everyone should be treated equally and that the world should come together as a unity. Angelou had many careers but is known mostly for her poetic creations. She has come a long way from where she started and I think anyone can agree with me when I say, she has made us all proud with her accomplishments. Angelou writes poetry to inform and encourage others to carry on through the worst of times. She is a strong, confident, inspirational woman and I am more than honored to be doing my senior paper on her.

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.

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 very brave. One of the things that makes her brave is being able to talk about being sexually abused. At the young age of seven, Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. This happened while she was briefly staying with her mother in St. Louis. For the rest of her life, she would have that memory in her brain, reminding her of such a traumatic experience. In 1970, Angelou had an autobiography that was on the New York Times’ bestseller

Unlike Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou devoted her life to inspiring African Americans to do whatever they wanted to do no matter what other people said. She also wanted to inspire people. Her poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise inspired not only the African American people, which is was intended to, but the whole world including men. Like Hughes, Maya Angelou did not think that one day she would be reading one of her poems at President Clinton 's inauguration. But she did think that she would inspire young African American writers that they too could become wonderful writers in a white society. Angelou is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary black literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman.

Born April 4, 1928, in Saint Louis Missouri throughout her life, Angelou defied several obstacles placed in her path by social norms. Angelou had a trying childhood. Her parents divorced when she was very young, and she and her older brother were sent to live with their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. During a visit with her mother, Angelou's mother's boyfriend raped her. Her uncles then killed the boyfriend, traumatizing Angelou. After her mother's boyfriend raped her and turned up dead a few days later, Angelou withdrew and chose to stay mute for five years. However,after much encouragement from her grandmother, who introduced her to literature, she gradually emerged as an artist. In 1944, Angelou gave birth to a son, Guy , at

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.

Maya Angelou utilises her passionate style to send a clear message and to create an empowering response within her audience. Through her use of imagery, figurative language, diction and repetition, she creates an uplifting tone of proud defiance

Maya was born on April 4, 1928, In Missouri. She had a difficult childhood. Her parents split up when she was about three years old. Maya was sexually abused by her mother's new partner, name Freeman. At the age of 14 Maya and her brother was living with their mother in Oakland. At this time she was working as a cab driver she was also the first black woman to do so.

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 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”).