Maya Angelou
“The honorary duty of a human being is to love” (Maya Angelou). Maya Angelou is an African-American was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou's five autobiographical novels were met with critical and popular success. Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1993, Angelou wrote a poem for Clinton's inauguration. In 2008, she earned a NAACP Award.
Maya’s life growing up was not so easy. When she was young her parents split up and her and her brother were sent to like with their grandma in Arkansas. It was rough living there because of racial discrimination. Maya and her brother were taunted because of their color. In 1936 Maya and her brother were sent back to their mother and new boyfriend. Maya was raped by her mother's friend. After that incident, Maya becoming mute for about five years. She was sent back to Arkansas because no-one can handle Maya that way. She and her brother went to live with their father and new girlfriend. Matters were the same and so they moved once more. Maya wanted to prove she was no longer a child and wanted to be treated as an adult. In a result Maya found herself having a child at age sixteen. She had a baby boy, Guy.
Angelou's career as a performer started to take off. She landed a role in a touring production of Porgy and Bess. Angelou later appeared off-Broadway in Calypso Heat Wave and released her first album Miss Calypso. A member of the Harlem Writers Guild and a civil rights activist, she organized and starred in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Angelou appeared in an off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks with James Earl Jones, Lou Gossett, Jr. and Cicely Tyson. While the play earned strong reviews, she moved on to other pursuits. Angelou spent much of the 1960s living abroad. She first lived in Egypt and then in Ghana, working as an editor and a freelance
Maya’s life growing up was not so easy. When she was young her parents split up and her and her brother were sent to like with their grandma in Arkansas. It was rough living there because of racial discrimination. Maya and her brother were taunted because of their color. In 1936 Maya and her brother were sent back to their mother and new boyfriend. Maya was raped by her mother's friend. After that incident, Maya becoming mute for about five years. She was sent back to Arkansas because no-one can handle Maya that way. She and her brother went to live with their father and new girlfriend. Matters were the same and so they moved once more. Maya wanted to prove she was no longer a child and wanted to be treated as an adult. In a result Maya found herself having a child at age sixteen. She had a baby boy, Guy.
Angelou's career as a performer started to take off. She landed a role in a touring production of Porgy and Bess. Angelou later appeared off-Broadway in Calypso Heat Wave and released her first album Miss Calypso. A member of the Harlem Writers Guild and a civil rights activist, she organized and starred in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Angelou appeared in an off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks with James Earl Jones, Lou Gossett, Jr. and Cicely Tyson. While the play earned strong reviews, she moved on to other pursuits. Angelou spent much of the 1960s living abroad. She first lived in Egypt and then in Ghana, working as an editor and a freelance