maya angelou
Maya Angelou is an unprecedented renaissance woman who is recognized as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. She is an educator, historian, multi-lingual, mother, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer, director, and is best known for her works of poetry and her best-selling series of autobiographies. She was born into a decade where discrimination and segregation ruled and where African-Americans were the target of all of this devastation. Not only had society shaped her as a woman, but she has also shaped our society and influenced many lives. Her achievements are endless and incomparable. Born Marguerite Johnson in Saint Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928 to Bailey and Vivian Baxter Johnson, Angelou acquired the name Maya from her revered brother Bailey Jr.. When their parent's marriage ended in divorce, the young Maya and Bailey were sent to live with their grandmother, Annie Henderson, in rural Stamps, Arkansas. While growing up, Maya encountered numerous obstacles and many prejudices toward her, not only because she was black, but also for being a woman. At a tender age, she was raped by a friend of her mothers. That one event in her life effected her tremendously. For some period, she w
This organization was headed by Dr. The marriage failed, but Maya was adamant about staying in Africa. She moved to Ghana, where she began her teaching career and continued her work in newspapers. After graduating from the Lafayette County Training School in 1940, sixteen year old Maya gave birth to her first son Guy Bailey Johnson. In her series of autobiographical books, she describes the racist and sexual pressures put on black women during the time when she was a young girl. They try so muchBut they can't touchMy inner mystery. She also wrote screenplays, Georgia, Georgia and All Day Long. This helped people become aware of what was going on during this time period. After this, all of her books were best-sellers. She has also acted in many plays and movies including Porgy and Bess (1954-55), The Blacks and Cabaret for Freedom (1960), Look Away (1973), Roots, and Poetic Justice. Here is when she wrote her first of several autobiographies, this one entitled I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Her poems speak about the turmoil our world is in but how we can overcome all that stands in our way. This book would be nominated for the National Book Award. In 1952, Angelou would marry Tosh Angelos, a sailor.
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