Fun Facts and Accomplishments:
- She was the first African American female cable car driver in San Francisco.
- She earned the Presidential Medal of Arts.
- She's received over 50 honorary degrees.
- Many of her books have topped best seller charts.
- Maya was a nickname and was not her original name.
- She never went to college.
- She acted in an Off-Broadway show.
Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. Her birth name was Marguerite Johnson and she spent her child with her grandmother. Before her death in May of 2014 she released 36 books. One of the most popular is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She has done many things beyond writing books.
Her original passion as a teenager were the arts. Maya got a scholarship to San Fransisco's Labor School to study drama and dance at 14 yrs old. She eventually dropped out to pursue other careers. She ultimately finished high school and took up a job as a waitress after her son, Guy, was born. This was when she relocated her love for music, dance and drama. Poetry followed soon after these things.
Her poetry was and still is renowned for the perspective it gives to the racism that was rampant in the U.S. while she was young. It was a different voice that hadn't been heard often. She, however, did not censor her recollection of her childhood. This got her book banned in any schools and put her in a bad light when it was first released. Later on, the book has received much praise and made the bestseller list more than once.
Poetry was not her only strength though. She released several books that were not poetry collections. Some of these were children's books and a couple were cook books. She wrote the screenplay for Georgia, Georgia which one a Pulitzer Prize. Maya also released more than one album. A couple of them were musical collections and one was a spoken word album. The spoken word album was called On the Pulse of Morning. This album won a grammy for Best Non Musical Album. One of her careers was also calypso dancing and singing in clubs. Her wide variety of jobs let her see into several different walks of life.
Maya Angelou's writing has influenced the lives of her readers with her varied perspective and words of wisdom. She let you peer into the culture of an entire generation with her works and in turn, changed the culture of another by educating them of her struggles. By allowing them to learn from her mistakes, in turn they were better off for it.
Works Cited
- "Biography." Caged Bird Legacy. Caged Bird Legacy, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.
- "Maya Angelou." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2015.