Maya Angelou

Background

Marguerite Annie Johnson, popularly known as Maya Angelou, was a worldwide sensation. Her work was acknowledged all over the world. Maya was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was born to her father, Bailey Johnson, who was a doorman and a navy dietitian. Her mother, Vivian Johnson was a nurse and card dealer. She got her name, Maya as a nickname from her brother taken from “My” or “Mya Sister.”

After their parents divorced, their father sent both of them to Stamps, Arkansas. They were sent alone by train and were to live with their grandmother, Annie Henderson. She did well financially despite the Great Depression and World War II effects on the economy. Four years later, their father returned them to their mother’s care and at the age of eight, a year later, Maya Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. She confided in her brother who told everyone in the family and the man, Freeman, was arrested. He was later released after a day but was allegedly immediately murdered by Angelou’s uncles. Angelou became mute for around five years because of this. She stated that she thought it was her voice that killed Freeman. She thought she could never talk again because her voice could kill someone. It was in the silence, however, that she fell in love with books and literature, cultivated her ability to listen and observe, and developed her extraordinary memory.

She went to Lafayette County Training School where her teacher, Mrs. Flowers, helped her speak again. She also introduced her to authors and Black female artists who would shape and influence Angelou’s career later on. She, afterward, attended the California Labor School. She became the first Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco at just 16 years old and had other odd jobs to make ends meet. In 2014, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials as part of a session billed “Women Who Move the Nation.”

In 1968, she wrote her first of seven biographies, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and she published it the following year. This was what gave her worldwide popularity and recognition. Before this she was nationally recognized as an activist, fighting alongside Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. In 1993, she recited, “On The Pulse of Morning,” during Bill Clinton’s inauguration and this brought with it fame for her previous works and widened her appeal across all walks of life. The poem also won her a Grammy Award. In 1995, she delivered her “second public poem” dubbed, “A Brave and Startling Truth,” which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. She wrote numerous books of poetry, seven autobiographies, and three books of essays. She was also attributed to a list of plays, movies, and television shows. Her work is considered a defense of Black culture and is used in schools and universities worldwide.