Maya Angelou
1928–2014 · American (St. Louis / San Francisco) · Civil Rights Era / Contemporary America
Known for: Poet, memoirist, cultural icon—I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 'Still I Rise,' 'Phenomenal Woman'
Maya Angelou survived childhood rape (she was mute for five years afterward), teenage motherhood, and poverty to become one of the most celebrated American writers. She was a dancer, actress, singer, civil rights activist (she worked with both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.), and the first Black woman to write a Hollywood screenplay.
She spoke six languages, lived in Ghana and Egypt, and read her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' at Bill Clinton's inauguration. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Her voice—both literary and literal—was one of extraordinary power.
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