Author – Maya Angelou

Marguerite Ann Johnson, better known as Maya Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis Missouri. Maya and her older brother, Bailey were sent to live with their grandma in Arkansas when they were young due to their parents splitting up. While in Arkansas they both experienced firsthand racial prejudice and discrimination. 

Her childhood hardships did not stop there; When Maya was only 7 she was sexually abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend. When Maya reported the incident to her family, Her Uncle out of vengeance murdered the boyfriend. Maya, believing that her voice had killed a man, chose mutism as a way to cope and did not talk for another 5 years. During her years of mutism, Angelou turned to poetry for an escape. She memorized the works of Shakespeare, Dickinson, Hughes and Cullen, propelling her to find her voice once again. In the late 1950s Angelou went on to join the Harlem Writer Guild where she continued to write and interact with various writers. Living through the grueling and prejudicial years of Jim Crow, Angelou was involved with activism as well. Angelou worked with the likes of Dr.King and Malcolm X. 

After the assassination of Dr. King Maya Angelou wrote her enthralling and melancholy memoir about her childhood and her experiences “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” published in 1969. She went on to write her notorious poem and play about the hardships people of color face in America and overcoming them,  “And Still I Rise” published in 1978. 

Through her charismatic writing, Angelou won 14 different awards on numerous different occasions. Angelou won the Grammy award for the best spoken word album three different times in 1994, 1996 and 2003. Most notably she won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 awarded by President Barack Obama. Maya Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014, but her writings continue to influence and be a voice for African Americans today.