Maya Angelou

BORN: APRIL 4, 1928, ST. LOUIS, MO

DIED: MAY 28, 2014, WINSTON-SALEM, NC

While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.

Her birth name was Marguerite Johnson, but her brother called her Maya. A sexual trauma at the age of seven rendered her mute, but after five years of refusing to speak, Maya eventually reclaimed her voice with the help of a caring teacher who encouraged her to read and write poetry.

While living in Oakland, California, Maya began taking modern dance classes. There she met Alvin Ailey, and the two formed a dance team called Al and Rita. Thus began Maya’s journey of personal artistic discovery through poetry, dance, acting, filmmaking, journalism, music, and lifelong activism for social justice. She cultivated relationships with many important friends and mentors, including writers James Baldwin, John Oliver Killens, and Rosa Guy, actors Harry Belafonte and Abby Lincoln, activist Malcolm X, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for whom she served as a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) coordinator during the 1960s, and entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey.

A multitalented writer and performer, Maya commanded attention with her statuesque, six-foot-tall figure; her deep, dramatic voice; and her pithy, memorable memoirs. She was an award-winning and internationally recognized writer of seven memoirs, children’s books, screenplays, articles, and essays. Her first memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969, was a runaway bestseller. Maya was also an accomplished actress and dancer and was the first Black female movie director in Hollywood.

In 1993, Maya recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. She was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2011. Two years later, the National Book Award Foundation gave her the Literarian Award. She also received over fifty honorary doctoral degrees.