She was nominated for several important awards and read a poem written for the occasion at President Clinton’s inauguration.Īngelou died on May 28, 2014, in North Carolina. In 1981, Angelou was appointed Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. Four more volumes appeared during the next two decades, as well as several books of poetry.
When she returned to the U.S., she began publishing her multivolume autobiography, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her writing and personal development flourished under the African cultural renaissance that was taking place. While caring for him in Ghana, she took a job at the African Review, where she stayed for several years. After leaving her boyfriend, she headed to Ghana, where a car accident severely injured her son. In 1961, she moved to Egypt with a boyfriend and edited for the Arab Observer. In 1959, she moved to New York, became friends with prominent Harlem writers, and got involved with the civil rights movement. Angelou had a broad career as a singer, dancer, actress, composer, and Hollywood’s first female black director, but became most famous as a writer, editor, essayist, playwright, and poet. From 1954 to ’55, she toured 22 countries. An acclaimed American poet, storyteller, activist, and autobiographer, Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. She auditioned for an international tour of Porgy and Bess and won a role. Ironically, the strip club saved her career: She was discovered there by a theater group. She moved to San Diego, worked as a nightclub waitress, tangled with drugs and prostitution and danced in a strip club. However, her plans were put on hold when she had a son at age 16. Never give up, never surrender and rise up against all odds. After moving to San Francisco with her mother and brother in 1940, Angelou began taking dance lessons, eventually auditioning for professional theater. Motivational Black history quotes from Black leaders. Frightened by the power of her own tongue, Angelou chose not to speak for the next five years.įrom this quiet beginning emerged a young woman who sang, danced, and recorded poetry.
When she revealed what happened, her uncles kicked the culprit to death. When she was eight, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she and her brother went to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Poet and novelist Maya Angelou-born Marguerite Johnson-is born in St.