Maya Angelou is born
Poet and novelist Maya Angelou-born Marguerite Johnson-is born in St.Louis Missouri.Her parents divorced when she was three and she and her brother went to live with their grandmother in Stamps Arkansas.
When she was eight she was raped by her mothers boyfriend.When she revealed what happened her uncles kicked the culprit to death.Frightened by the power of her own tongue Angelou chose not to speak for the next five years.From this quiet beginning emerged a young woman who sang danced and recorded poetry.
After moving to San Francisco with her mother and brother in 1940 Angelou began taking dance lessons eventually auditioning for professional theater.However her plans were put on hold when she had a son at age 16.She moved to San Diego worked as a nightclub waitress tangled with drugs and prostitution and danced in a strip club.
Ironically the strip club saved her career She was discovered there by a theater group.She auditioned for an international tour of Porgy and Bess and won a role.From 1954 to 55 she toured 22 countries.In 1959 she moved to New York became friends with prominent Harlem writers and got involved with the civil rights movement.In 1961 she moved to Egypt with a boyfriend and edited for the Arab Observer.
After leaving her boyfriend she headed to Ghana where a car accident severely injured her son.While caring for him in Ghana she took a job at the African Review where she stayed for several years.Her writing and personal development flourished under the African cultural renaissance that was taking place.When she returned to the U.S.
she began publishing her multivolume autobiography starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.Four more volumes appeared during the next two decades as well as several books of poetry.In 1981 Angelou was appointed Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.
She was nominated for several important awards and read a poem written for the occasion at President Clintons inauguration.Angelou died on May 28 2014 in North Carolina.She was 86 years old.
