Maya Angelou's Great Influence and Success Essay

Angelou was determined to resist being a victim of oppression. No matter how she was viewed in the history books, she will “ rise. “ She called herself a poet, in love with the "sound of language," ''the music in language," as she explained to The Associated Press in 2013. But she lived so many lives. She was a wonder to Toni Morrison, who marveled at Angelou's freedom from inhibition, her willingness to celebrate her own achievements. She was a mentor to Oprah Winfrey, whom she befriended when Winfrey was still a local television reporter, and often appeared on her friend's talk show program. She mastered several languages and published not just poetry, but advice books, cookbooks and children's stories. She wrote music, plays and screenplays, received an Emmy nomination for her acting in "Roots," and never lost her passion for dance, the art she considered closest to poetry. (OregonLive.com, 2017)

Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes are both African American poets that have made tremendously positive names for themselves in the literature department. Their significant signature in the poetic community has been made by their passion and commitment to produce poetry that speaks to the emotions the public faces on a daily basis. Maya Angelou was brought into this world on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas (Maya Angelou Biography 1). Sadly, Ms. Angelou left the earth on May 28, 2014 (Maya Angelou Biography 1), but still made sure that her works would be adequate enough for the public to enjoy her works past her time. She was not just a poet, as she wrote books, memoirs, taught, produced, acted, made films, and was an activist in the civil rights movement. (19 1). Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri (Langston Hughes 1). Langston was able to make himself known in the public eye during the Harlem Renaissance.

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

At the same time, Angelou had made the commitment to promote black civil rights. In the next four volumes of Angelou's autobiography, she traces her psychological, spiritual, and political odyssey. She tells about experiences with Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Angelou writes about her involvement with the civil rights and feminist groups in the United States and Africa, her relationship with her son, and her knowledge for the hardships associated with the lower class. She read her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning," at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. After her reading of "On the Pulse of the Morning," the poem seemed to be showing up everywhere. Clinton Pledged to protect the National Endowment for the Arts budget for Education and Arts. He used Angelou as an example of these actions. An April 29th acquittal of Los Angeles, California, policemen involved in the Rodney King beating caused a race war. This concluded with fifty deaths and around two-hundred injured. There were about two-hundred fifty million people in the population in 1992. The national debt exceeded three million dollars. Angelou influenced hope that the

Angelou was born in Missouri in 1928. She spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, pre Civil Rights Movement with her grandmother and her older brother. Angelou is most known for writing the poem Caged Bird. In the first stanza about the caged bird, Angelou declares that the bird, “can seldom see through/ his bars of rage/ his wings are clipped and/ his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing”(Caged Bird). Angelou uses the bird as a metaphor for oppressed African Americans during this time period; the bird is held back by a barrier, just like African Americans were held back by unjust laws, a corrupt legal system, and their white peers who saw them as inferior. Similar to the bird, Angelou felt held back by others, but she did not let the “bars of rage” hold her back from her potential so, like the bird, she “opened her throat to sing” and used her voice to protest for herself and those who could not advocate for themselves.

Maya Angelou is terrific performer, singer, filmmaker, and civil-rights activist. She is a phenomenal woman, one thing that she does best is writing. She is still living today, I believe her legend will never die. If one would talk to her, he or she would think she has lead a normal, happy life. Her life is blissful now, it was not always perfect. Maya beard enough emotional stress in a time frame that most people do not experience in a lifetime. Her experiences and the lessons learned encouraged her to help others become strong. Maya Angelou is one of the best examples of someone overcoming rape, being mute for several years, and having a child at a young age to achieve success of becoming an accomplished

Maya Angelou is a very well educated and well known black woman. She studied at California Labor School and was appointed Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University (Maya Angelou: Poet and Historian, n.d.). In giving her speech at Spelman College, a predominantly black school, she was very well qualified for the occasion. It is no secret that Angelou participated in the Civil Rights Movement, she was a teacher, a successful writer, and a national figure. According to Thill and Bovee (2015), “Successful communication relies on a positive relationship between sender and receiver”

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.

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

Maya Angelou’s writing career started in the late 1950’s, after she moved to New York City. Angelou joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she was able to meet a number of major African-American authors and published for the first time. In 1968, with the help of her friend and novelist James Baldwin, Angelou wrote her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which brought her great international recognition and acclaim. With the first volume of her autobiography, she writes about growing up as a poor black female during segregation in the rural South.

According to Cornel West and Henry Louis Gates in their book entitled, The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Lives, in her lifetime she wrote a total of seven poetry editions, two five autobiographies, four children’s books, a screenplay, and two essay collections (West and Gates 276). Her most acclaimed publication was her introspective novel, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, which was based on her childhood, growing up in a then segregated Missouri (West and Gates 276). Margalit Fox wrote in an article for the New York Times, this book was the first time anyone paid attention to a black woman’s autobiography (Fox). The narrative awakened a culture of “female self revelation” in 1970 (West and Gates 279). Because Angelou’s works examined concepts of race, identity, family, and community, which are still prevalent today, they have stood the test of time (Fox).

Maya Angelou has inspired me in more ways than one, and I had to write about her. When Maya speaks people listen. She has this wisdom that only few have, especially when life wasn’t always great. She turned tragedy into triumph, and helped others in doing so. So, Maya has proven too many women, especially black women that you succeed, even if you have had a child in your teen years. She’s proof that with determination nothing is unattainable.

She was even known as one of the “Big Six” of the Civil Rights Movement, but her role was often overlooked because of sexism. She faced racism all through her life, especially when she was denied entrance into Barnard College because they only let in 2 African American students each year. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years and was a founding member of the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership. She, liked Maya Angelou, inspired many African American women through a time in our nation’s history plagued with prejudice towards African Americans and women. Both women were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their work to create equality, Heights in 1994 and Maya Angelou in

The four other volumes of her autobiography are, Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a woman (1981), and All God's Children Need Travelin Shoes (1986). She also published several volumes of poetry and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for one of the, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971). In 1973, Angelou appeared on Broadway in Look Away and was nominated for a Tony Award. In 1977 she received an Emmy nomination for her performance in the mini series Roots. She was appointed to the Bicentennial Commission by President Gerald Ford and to the Commission of International Women's Year by President Jimmy Carter. For many Americans, one of the most memorable moments during the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, on January 20, 1993, came when Maya Angelou recited the poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" not since 1961, when Robert Frost read his work at the ceremony for president John F. Kennedy, had a poet taken part in a presidential inauguration.

Angelou’s Lifestyle Connection with her Literature Maya Angelou is a well-known author, regardless of being known for her poetry, or countless autobiographies that she has written that related to some of the tragic events that took place throughout her childhood up into her adult life. Angelou used different themes throughout her work that expressed her own life experiences. Whether it was being raped as a child by her mother’s boyfriend or having the feeling that she was the person at fault when it came down to the death of her rapist. According to an article written by Smelstor and Bruce, at birth, she born with the name Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri.