Maya Angelou Biography

Maya Angelou (1928 - 2014) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist who published many works throughout her lifetime. She is most famously known for her memoirs and poems documenting her early life, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969, and Phenomenal Women, about her journey as a woman, both of which brought her international acclaim. Through her political activism and her descriptive writings, she became well known as a civil rights activist and worked alongside two of the most well known Civil Rights activists, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Maya Angelou was a well rounded woman who heavily influenced the literary world through her descriptive writings and documentary stories about her journey
She wrote about her feelings, thoughts, and emotions, moving many people with the experiences she faced as a young adult. In her most famous memoir published in 1971, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she discussed her struggles living as a black female in the South, leading to her to Stamps, St. Louis, and California (Overview: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings). Her memoirs covered many topics, including her rape by her father, her careers as an actress, singer, dancer and playwright, and her love life; all of which many women in the civil rights era were not willing to discuss. Angelou writes “don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty. Plenty pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.” This quote represents the underlying theme of female empowerment, which is evident through the entire memoir. In a criticism written by Myra K. McMurry, she notes that Caged Bird was “an affirmation, . . . Maya Angelou’s answer to the question of how a Black girl can grow up in a repressive system without being maimed by it.” (Maya Angelou Biography). Throughout the memoir, one can see her change from a young girl, oppressed, nervous and scared, to progressing into a strong, confident
Before becoming a published writer, she was an accomplished performer, studying modern dance with Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham, and performing in many award winning off Broadway shows including Porgy and Bess and Cabaret of Freedom, which she wrote herself (Showalter, Elaine). She first received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her book of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Die and then was nominated for her score and screenplay of Georgia, Georgia (Maya Angelou Biography). Angelou's writings broke many boundaries and influenced her readers through her themes about overcoming racism, oppression from whites, and unfair treatment of women. In 1993, she recited her poem On The Pulse of Morning about human solidarity and the similarities through human kindness at Bill Clinton’s inauguration. She added, “In all my work, what I try to say is that as human beings we are more alike than we are unalike.” in an interview about her performance (On the Pulse of Morning). In 2000, she received the National Medal of the Arts from Bill Clinton. Then, in 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. At the ceremony, Obama noted that “She touched me, she touched all of you, she touched people all across the globe, including a young white woman from Kansas who named her daughter after Maya and raised her son to be the first black president of the