Maya+Angelou

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou was born April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya’s birth name is Marguerite Johnson. When Maya was three her parents separated. In 1931, Maya and her brother moved with their grandmother and mother. Around 1935 Maya, her brother and mother moved to St. Louis. Her mother paramour raped Maya in 1936. After that Maya and her brother moved back with their grandmother in Stamp, Arkansas. In 1940 she graduated from Lafayette Country Training School in Stamp. In 1944, Maya graduated from Mission High School and gave birth to her son Clyde. In 1960, she wrote and performs in collaboration with Godfrey Cambridge. Maya wrote and produced a ten-part PBS television series. In 1975 she got her honorary degree from Smith and Mills College. Then she got her honorary degree from Lawrence University in 1976. She was honored with Matrix Awards given by Women in Communication in 1983. Maya appears on Billy Moyers’s PBS program ‘’The Face of Evil’’ in 1988. Then Maya reads ‘’A Brave and Startling Truth’’ at the 50th Anniversary of United Nation. She did a lot of things. She writes poets, novels. Maya also an actress, and a film make. She made history. She was the first African American poetry writer and singer. Maya started writing poets when she was 12. Maya wrote seven autobiographies, sixteen poems, five essays, six children books and more. An autobiography that Maya wrote was ‘’I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She wrote that in 1969. She also wrote ‘’Gather Together in My Name’’ in 1974. A poem she wrote was ‘’Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die’’ in 1971. Another was ‘’And Still I Rise’’ in 1978. Maya Angelo spoke at barrack Obama’s inauguration. She talked about how she’s happy for him being the president. She said he intelligent. She also said he have common seen which is uncommon. She was reciting from one of her poems called ‘’Still I Rise’’.