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Maya Angelou Research Paper

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Maya Angelou was a well-respected author and advocate for civil rights during her time. Her life was extremely impactful on the American society, because of her lifelong obstacles, her strong beliefs in civil rights, her contributions to the literary world and the arts. She had a miserable childhood that empowered her writing, due to the way she was treated as an African American in the 1930's which lead her to become a strong supporter of everyone's Constitutional rights. Maya Angelou's literary works were widely renowned by numerous respected professors and fellow writers. Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April fourth, 1928. She was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. During her first ten years of life she faced brutality and racial …show more content…

In later years she would embrace popular culture working with rappers, poets, musicians and filmmakers. Writing about her experience with eloquence and detail, Maya Angelou recorded history through poetry, biographies, journalism, children’s books, cook books and essays painting a picture of the American landscape for generations to come. During her years abroad, Dr. Angelou read and studied voraciously, learning French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and the West African language Fanti. When she was there she met Civil Rights Activist Malcolm X and in 1964, came back to America build the Organization of African American Unity. Shortly after her arrival in the United States, Malcolm X was assassinated, and the organization dissolved. Soon after X’s assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked Dr. Angelou to serve as Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King’s assassination, falling on her birthday in 1968, left her devastated. Maya Angelou continued her work in Civil Rights and has also been widely recognized as a international ambassador for good will crossing lines of race and culture. Dr. Angelou has served on two presidential committees. President Clinton asked her to write a poem and to read at his inauguration. Angelou’s reading of her poem On the Pulse of the Morning was broadcasted live around the world. Maya Angelou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts and theNational Medal of Arts in 2000. She wrote the poem Amazing Peace for President George W. Bush and read the poem at the 2005 Christmas tree lighting ceremony. President Barack Obama presented her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor in

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Around age eight, Maya Angelou was raped while visiting her mother in St. Louis.(Skinner) Shortly after, the rapist was convicted and then murdered by a family member of Maya´s. (Skinner) Due to the tragic incident, she became mute for nearly five years.(¨Maya¨) As she grew up she became even more empowered, striving to live this quote she once said; ¨We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.¨ As a teenager she became the first African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco.(Skinner) At the

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Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 and passed away on May 28, 2014. Throughout her lifetime, Angelou faced obstacles as an African American woman. Her first obstacle occurred when Angelou was eight year old and was raped by her mother’s boyfriend Freeman. After this experience with her mother’s boyfriend, she later on told her brother who then told the family. Freeman faced 1 day in jail for his punishment.

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Maya Angelou philosophy and teachings are timeless. There is a lesson to be learned in her more than 30 published works and her lessons taught as a professor and lecturer. More important she lived what she preached. She had a strong belief in humanity as a whole, in the human spirit and in the African American community. She fought tirelessly to change extinguish racism, prejudice and discrimination during a time when she herself as a black woman experienced its effects.

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Maya Angelou was born in Saint Louis Missouri, on April 4, 1928 (Maya Angelou) Among the most popular African-American lady figure, she was well known. She was an American essayist and extraordinary performing artist, and additionally a rousing figure as a writer, who was the component artist at President Bill Clinton's 1993 initiation. The wit,wisdom, and power of Maya Angelou's work have made her one of the most beloved contemporary American writers ( Appiah and Gates). Was an awesome teacher, history specialist, creator, dramatist, chief, and maker.

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Her parents split up when she was very young. Because of this, Angelou and her brother moved to Arkansas where their grandmother had lived. Because she was African American, Angelou was discriminated. While visiting her mother, she was abused by her mother's boyfriend. Angelou’s uncle was very upset so he killed the boyfriend.

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Have you ever heard of a civil rights activist named Maya Angelou. Well, she was born on April 4, 1928. Her parents were Vivian Baxter Johnson and Bailey Johnson. All her life she wanted to contribute to the civil rights movement. Wanting to help out as much as she possibly could.

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“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present in accessible.” Maya Angelou is one of the most inspirational and influential figure of black history month. Her writings not only told the real, sad truth of how African American women were treated in the United States, but teaches a lesson that everyone must learn from. Maya Angelou inspires through her history, obstacles and achievements and her contribution to society. In St. Louis Missouri, on April 4, 1928, Marguerite Annie Johnson was born into a world where racism and discrimination were a major issue, but it did not stop her.

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Maya Angelou walked into a meeting of civil rights leaders talking about governmental policy regarding African Americans in society back in the 1990s, looked around, and put all of them in their spot with a simple, clever perception. “She came into the room,” recalled Al Sharpton, “and she said: ‘The first problem is you don’t have women in here of equal status. We need to correct you before you can correct the country”’("Maya Angelou’s Cultural Impact Not Forgotten"). Angelou had lived in Cairo and Ghana for a while working as a writer in each country before returning to the U.S. in 1970 and was appointed to the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which stressed the themes of renewal and rebirth based on a restoration of traditional values, giving a nostalgic and exclusive reading of the American past, by President Gerald R. Ford for all her accomplishments (“FG 75 (American Revolution Bicentennial Commission)”). She was later named to the Commission for International Woman of the Year, which had begun to address women's role in economic and social development, by President Jimmy Carter (“Commission on the Status of Women”).

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Maya Angelou was a strong African-American women who made an influential impact on the Civil Rights Movement, in bother her actions, and her literature. Her life experiences and courage helped others, and made her work influential. During Maya’s early life, she experienced many hardships that shaped her into the person many remember her as. Born on April 4, 1928, she only lived in St. Louis, MO for three years before her parents got divorced, and Maya, along with her mother and brother, moved in with her grandparents in Arkansas. At the age of eight, raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Maya learned the power that words possess.

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Making history isn’t an easy thing to do, but Maya Angelou, an acclaimed poet, faced the odds and led a truly impactful life. Throughout her life, Angelou also endeavored in civil rights and found success in writing memoirs. Her ability to write beautiful poetry and relate to readers with her poignant stories allowed her to have a career filled with achievements. She never had anything handed to her on a silver platter, which makes her successes even more noteworthy. Her hard work and dedication to her art made her a perfect role model for other aspiring dreamers.

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Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her paternal grandmother in rural Stamps, Arkansas.” When she was not yet eight years old.despite Maya Angelou being raped, mute and racial discriminated thorugh out her whole life still managed to become a successful woman in her life. Maya Angelou was an inspirational leader due to her challenging background, contribution

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She was born as Marguerite Annie Johnson. When she was only 3 years old, her parents got divorced. And when she was 7-8 years old, her mom’s boyfriend raped her. Where she was born, there was a lot of racist and mean people. (biography.com).

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She even got to host her talk show called "Maya Angelou's America" with Oprah Winfrey. She also created many activism projects, but she was most known for creating the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Junior ("Maya Angelo" Newsmaker). Maya Angelou made a remarkable career and household name for herself when she was 30. Maya Angelou started her first Broadway musical titled "Look Away" in 1973 ("Maya Angelou" Newsmaker). In 1975, President Ford made Maya Angelou an honorary member of the American Revolution Bicentennial Council.

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I’m doing my report on Maya (Johnson) Angelou. Angelou is a poet, memoirist, dramatist, actress, filmmaker, and activist. Maya’s birthday is April 4, 1928 and she was born in the state, St. Louis Missouri and she passed away on May 28, 2014. Maya’s dad’s name is Bailey Johnson, her mom’s name is Vivian Baxter Johnson, and her brothers name is Bailey jr johnson. Shortly after Maya was born the Johnsons moved to Long Beach California.

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Angelou’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and her achievements as an activist were remarkable. While these achievements seem to be enough to last a lifetime, the Civil Rights Movement was only the beginning for Angelou. Angelou worked as an outspoken Civil Rights activist during the movement. But even after the Civil Rights Movement had ended, she continued to be a voice of humanity, speaking out against anything that harmed the human spirit. Angelou moved on to influence American society as a whole, from the 1970’s to the day she died, May 28, 2014.

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