Maya Angelou | Shiken (2024)

The Inspiring Life of Maya Angelou

Marguerite Annie Johnson, who later became known as Maya Angelou, was a multifaceted individual whose impact reached far beyond her poetry and writing. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928, Angelou grew up with her parents and older brother, Bailey Jr. However, her childhood was marred by her parents' separation and a traumatic experience that left a lasting mark on her life.

After her parents' split, Angelou was sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas. But she and her brother were eventually taken back to their mother in St. Louis, where Angelou suffered a horrific incident at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. The resulting trauma caused her to stop speaking for five years. Angelou and her brother were then sent back to their grandmother's home, where she attended a Rosenwald school and found comfort in her love for reading.

The Rosenwald school project was a groundbreaking collaboration between Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington, aiming to address the systemic discrimination faced by schools educating African American students. Angelou's teacher, Mrs. Flowers, played a crucial role in her life by nurturing her love for learning and helping her find her voice again.

While Angelou found solace in the works of renowned authors like Jessie Fauset, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens, she also became an inspiration to others through her own writing. Her profound impact on young minds led her to write books for children and even make appearances on the popular children's TV show, Sesame Street.

At the age of fourteen, Angelou moved to California and attended high school in San Francisco. Following a scholarship for dance and drama, she became pregnant at 16, giving birth to her son, Clyde. Despite the challenges of raising her son as a single mother, Angelou made history as the first African American female streetcar conductor in San Francisco and took on various odd jobs to support herself and her child.

In pursuit of her passion for writing, Angelou moved to New York and joined the Harlem Writers Guild in 1959. There, she organized the Cabaret for Freedom with John Oliver Killens to raise funds for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and support the civil rights movement.

Maya Angelou: A Trailblazer in Literature and Activism

As a founding member of the Harlem Writers Guild, Maya Angelou was a crucial contributor to African American literature. Her works beautifully depict various aspects of the Black experience in America.

In 1961, Angelou met Vusumzi Make, a South African freedom fighter, and their love blossomed. They relocated to Cairo, where Angelou worked as an editor for The Arab Observer. However, their relationship did not last, and Angelou moved to Accra, Ghana, to provide her son with a better education. She lived there from 1962 to 1965, during which she became friends with Malcolm X and worked with him to establish the Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1965.

The Organization of Afro-American Unity, founded in 1964, aimed to advocate for the human rights of Black Americans and promote collaboration between Africans and Black individuals in the Americas.

After Malcolm X's assassination in 1965, Angelou led a nomadic lifestyle, residing in various cities in the United States. She even lived in Hawaii, Los Angeles, and New York from 1965 to 1968. In 1968, she wrote and produced a ten-episode documentary series, "Blacks, Blues, Black!", which explored the significance of blues music in African American culture. The series aired on National Educational Television. The following year, Angelou published her revolutionary first autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," propelling her to international recognition.

Angelou married Paul de Feu in 1973. During their marriage, which lasted from 1973 to 1981, Angelou continued to write prolifically, publishing a variety of articles, scripts, and books. She wrote three more autobiographies: "Gather Together in My Name" (1974), "Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas" (1976), and "The Heart of a Woman" (1981). Angelou also remained active in the theater world, both as a producer and actress. She starred in the play "Look Away" in 1973 and the television show "Roots" in 1977. After her divorce, Angelou directed a revival of "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl" by Errol John in 1988 in Islington, London.

In 1981, Angelou returned to her Southern roots, accepting a lifetime professorship at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. In 1993, she performed at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration, reciting her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning," which won a Grammy.

Until her passing in 2014, Angelou continued to create art and literature. She directed the feature film "Down in the Delta" in 1996 and even collaborated with Hallmark in 2000 to create a collection of products. Angelou also published her sixth and seventh autobiographies, "A Song Flung Up to Heaven" (2002) and "Mom & Me & Mom" (2013). She also campaigned for the Democratic Party during the 2008 elections, initially supporting Hillary Clinton and later endorsing Barack Obama.

Interesting Facts about Maya Angelou

Angelou wrote seven autobiographies, five books of poetry, and three books of essays during her lifetime.
She received over 50 honorary degrees and numerous awards and honors.
Angelou was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for her poetry book "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie" (1971) and for a Tony Award in 1973 for her role in the play "Look Away."
In addition to her literary influence, Angelou also had political influence, serving on two presidential committees for Gerald Ford in 1975 and Jimmy Carter in 1977.
In 2022–2025, she will be honored in the American Women Quarters program, with her image featured on quarters as a celebration of notable women in American history.

Maya Angelou's Books

Throughout her career, Maya Angelou wrote a total of seven autobiographies. At the time of her death, she was reportedly working on an eighth that delved into her experiences with world leaders. While all of her autobiographies are based on her own life, Angelou incorporates techniques typically associated with fiction writing, such as plot and dialogue, earning some of her works the label of autobiographical fiction.

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969) is Angelou's first autobiography, covering her childhood to late teenage years. The book begins in 1931 when she was sent to live with her grandmother and ends with the birth of her son, Guy, shortly after her high school graduation. This work challenged the expectations of memoir writers at the time.

The Revolutionary Impact of Maya Angelou as a Black Writer

Maya Angelou, a strong and courageous Black woman, defied the norms of her time by openly sharing her personal experiences of racism and rape. In an era of systemic oppression and discrimination against African Americans, Angelou bravely placed herself and her story at the forefront, challenging the common practice of silencing Black voices. Her unapologetic writing about the Black experience set a new standard for African American writers and memoirists.

Exploring the Life of Maya Angelou through Her Biographies

Angelou's fourth biography, The Heart of a Woman (1981), chronicles her journey from California to New York and her involvement in the civil rights movement from 1957 to 1962. This book not only delves into her role in the movement, but also highlights her experiences as a single mother raising her son. Similarly, A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), Angelou's second to last biography, covers the years 1965 to 1968 and reflects on her return to the United States after living in Ghana. It also explores how she coped with the assassinations of two influential leaders, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., both of whom she knew. The autobiography concludes at the moment when Angelou begins writing her first biography.

Maya Angelou's Powerful Legacy of Poetry

In addition to her biographies, Angelou published five poetry collections during her lifetime. One of her most renowned works is Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Two of her most celebrated poems are Still I Rise (1978) and Caged Bird (1983).

Still I Rise (1978)

In this empowering poem, Angelou reflects on her own experiences as a Black woman in America and triumphantly overcomes not only her personal hardships, but also the intergenerational traumas faced by African Americans. She boldly declares herself as the "dream and hope of the slave" and refuses to be anything less than her confident and unapologetic self. One of the literary devices Angelou effectively uses in this poem is repetition. By repeating the phrase "I rise" throughout the poem, she creates a powerful image of resilience and determination. The shift between the future tense "I'll rise" and the present tense "I rise" adds to the impactful tone of the poem, building up to the final release when "I rise" is repeated three times.

Caged Bird (1983)

The title of this poem mirrors that of Angelou's first poem, showing the significance of the metaphor of a caged bird in her writing. In this poem, she compares a free bird, soaring confidently, with a caged bird, singing a fearful "trill". Despite the caged bird's oppression, it continues to sing of freedom. These two birds symbolize the struggles and experiences of African Americans in the United States, as well as Angelou's own personal journey as a child, including her struggles with selective mutism from ages 8 to 12. Angelou effectively uses enjambment in the final stanza, breaking up the rhythm and causing the reader to pause and consider each line individually. This fragmentation is further emphasized by the break in the regular rhyme scheme in the last two lines, emphasizing the theme of freedom.

Maya Angelou: A Phenomenal Woman and Her Inspiring Words

Maya Angelou was not only an extraordinary poet and writer but also a fierce civil rights activist. Born as Marguerite Annie Johnson in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, Angelou published seven autobiographies, five books of poetry, and three books of essays during her remarkable career. She truly embodied the essence of a phenomenal woman.

In her famous poem, "Phenomenal Woman," Angelou celebrates the strength and beauty of all women, challenging society's narrow standards of beauty. She beautifully writes, "Pretty women wonder where my secret lies / I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size / But when I start to tell them / They think I'm telling lies / I say, It's in the reach of my arms / The span of my hips / The stride of my step / The curl of my lips / I'm a woman / Phenomenally / Phenomenal woman / That's me."

The Phenomenal Legacy of Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou's impact as a writer, poet, and activist continues to inspire and empower generations. Her bold and unapologetic writing about the Black experience has set a new standard for African American literature. She will always be remembered as a phenomenal woman who changed the literary landscape and left an enduring mark on society.

Here are some powerful quotes from Angelou's works:

From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings:
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

Maya Angelou: A Legacy of Empowerment and Resilience

Maya Angelou's powerful words have long been a source of inspiration for women, encouraging them to embrace their unique qualities and inner strength. Through her own life experiences, Angelou showed the world what it means to persevere and rise above adversity.

As a young girl, Angelou faced challenges that would have silenced most. At the age of eight, she became a selective mute and remained silent for five years. However, with the help of her teacher, Mrs. Flowers, Angelou found her voice once again. Mrs. Flowers told her, "You do not love poetry. You will never love it until you speak it." This pivotal moment not only sparked Angelou's love for poetry but also set her on a path to become one of the most influential poets of her time.

At seventeen, Angelou became a teenage mother, but she refused to let this define her. She continued to pursue her dreams and traveled the world, living in Accra, Ghana for a period of time. It was there that she formed a close friendship with Malcolm X and worked with him to build the Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1965.

Even after her passing in 2014 at the age of 86, Angelou's legacy continues to inspire and impact people worldwide. She received over fifty honorary degrees and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her words and wisdom live on through her poetry and writings, reminding readers of the importance of strength, resilience, and empowerment.

Maya Angelou's legacy is timeless, and her words will continue to resonate with generations to come. She reminds us that, while we may not always have control over the events that happen to us, we can choose not to be defined by them. Maya Angelou was a truly phenomenal woman, and her impact on literature and society will always be remembered and cherished.