Maya Angelou Inspiration

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

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St.Louis, Missouri. When she was three her parents divorced, and

Marguerite Johnson was born in Missouri, on April 4, 1926 to Bailey and Vivian Baxter. She was given the nickname Maya by her brother, Bailey Jr. They grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. Maya’s parents’ marriage ended she and her Brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps. During 1935 to 1940 they lived between homes of their mother and grandmother. While living with her mother Maya was abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend which was so traumatic that she was unable to speak. They returned to thire grandmother once again.

At the age of 16, Maya left home with her son Guy. She supported them by working menial jobs such as waitressing and being a cook. In 1952, Maya married a Greek sailor named Anatasis Angelopules. In her career as a nightclub singer, she used Maya Angelou as her professional name. Even though her marriage was short lived, her performing career was blooming. In 1954-1955, she toured Europe with an opera production for Porgy and Bess. Maya also studied modern dance with Martha Graham, danced with Alvin Ailey on TV, and recorded her first album “Calypso” in 1957.

Maya Angelou is a very good poet. In fact she is one of my favorites. My favorite quote of hers says, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how they made you feel.” This quote reminds me to make a good impact on people so that they can remember me as a caring, kind, person.

“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

Angelou was born in 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. In the beginning, she was known as Marguerite Annie Johnson. However, she obtained the nickname “Maya” by her brother, Bailey. Both she and her brother were raised by their pious grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas.

When Marguerite began working at a nightclub as a singer, she changed her name to Maya Angelou. She came up with this name by using a childhood nickname and her husband’s name. Her marriage did not last too long, but her career continued to grow more and more successful. Maya was a play writer, songwriter, performer, singer, historian, dancer, stage and screen producer, author, poet, and a civil rights activist. Marguerite Johnson was born in Saint Louis,Missouri, April 4, 1928. On May 28, 2014, Maya died in her home, Winston-Salem, North Carolina from years of health issues.

First,Maya was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri,writer and civil rights activist during war world 2.Maya was three years old when she moved with her grandmother in Stamp’s Arkansas with her little brother Bailey.Angelou was an actress, author, dancer poet, and a screenwriter and her parents split up when she was little.They moved to west from St. Louis Missouri, where Maya was born and she died in May 28,2014. She was offered in position as the northern coordinator for Dr. King’s SCLC. Maya won three Grammys awards for spoken-words recordings for her poetry.Angelou moved to San Francisco California during war 2 , in California Maya won a

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 is one of the most important American Authors who ever lived. She was an African-American woman who spoke her mind and when someone told her she couldn’t do something, it made her want to do it even more so that she could prove them wrong (Shapiro). Her life was incredibly difficult, but it made her who she was and influenced her writing and poetry immensely. As Gary Younge once said, “To know her life story is to simultaneously wonder what on earth you have been doing with your life and feel glad that you didn’t have to go through half the things she has.” She is important because she influenced women, people of color, and anyone who has gone through hard times. Maya Angelou is an essential American author because of

Maya Angelou is frequently remembered by “chronicles her often painful childhood and insatiable hunger to learn and experience all that life has to offer” (Denia Hester). May was raped at the age of seven, and she had spoken

Maya Angelou was born in st. lous , Missouri in 1928. Maya lived with her grandmother in Arkansas when she was a child. When she was still a teen she moved to California and gave birth to a baby boy. Maya was a person who was not afraid of a challenge.

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri by the name of Marguerite Annie Johnson. Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at the age of 86 years old. On October 28, 2014, an Autobiography book called Rainbow in the Cloud was published by her only son named Guy Johnson after Maya’s passing.