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Struggle in Maya Angelou's life
Maya angelou impact
Maya angelou's young life
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Struggle in Maya Angelou's life
Maya angelou impact
Maya angelou's young life
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Struggle in Maya Angelou's life
On April 4th of 1928 Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. She was given the name “Maya” by her brother, Bailey. Both Maya and Bailey were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas after her parents divorced. When Maya went to visit her mother at the age of eight she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend.
Angelou faced much prejudice and discrimination firsthand throughout her life. Through these experiences as well as others, Maya Angelou was able to make personal connections
Firstly, there are many interesting facts about maya Angelou. She actually had many jobs including singer,dancer,actress, composer, etc. Maya Angelou had a hard early life. Her brother even gave her the name maya. Maya Angelou also got many awards in her life.
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.
By the time teen Maya Angelou was sixteen years old, she became pregnant with a baby boy, she named, Guy Johnson. Once Maya Angelou was no longer a young girl she was determined to travel outside of United States of America, making a huge difference and transitioning from girl to woman. Then finally Maya Angelou became a female African American Activist Civil Rights Leader who was famous for being a writer, singer, actress, author, director, stage and screen performer, also most well-known poet. Throughout her career, Angelou has earned several awards and accomplished many accomplishments, including receiving a Grammy award. Her best known art work was entitled, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Maya Angelou was one of the most influential literary phenomenons, who created numerous inspiring works and paved the way for many African Americans, while facing discrimination and prejudices. She gave people hope through her countless works of literature and gave people an understanding to what it really feels like to be an African American. Throughout her life, Maya had a very traumatic childhood. Her parents, Vivian Baxter Johnson and Bailey Johnson, had gotten a divorce when she was 3 and she as well as her brother, were sent to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.
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.
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style" (Angelou 12). These quoted words came from a strong, wise minded, African American woman whose legacy still lives on. In this essay you will understand a lot about Maya Angelou's early life on how she became famous, her careers, how many awards she has received, and also how her legacy continues to have an impact on people. Maya was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928 (Angelou 8). During Maya's growth she spent most of her days at the library attending Toussaint L'ouverture Grammar school (Angelou 8).
An influential American is someone who influences America to be what we know it as today. Maya Angelou, Bill Cosby, and Malcolm X are all people who lived during the time of segregation, a hard time that African American faced. They used their life situations, and impacted Americans with their positivity and inspiration. Angelou was a positive poet, teacher, dancer, and songwriter; Cosby produced positive television shows revolving around ideal families; and X was a civil rights activist and minister. Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4th, 1928, she lived a long inspirational and positive life and left a huge mark on many during her time here; Angelou died May 28th 2014 in Winston-Salem North Carolina.
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Johnson, lived through an unstable early life. She was born in St. Louis, Arkansas, but moved away to Stamps, Arkansas at age three due to her parents’ divorce. There, Angelou lived with her brother, Bailey, and her paternal grandmother (Galenet - Self and a Song of Freedom in the Southern Tradition). As discussed in her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, seven-year old Maya was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. The man was consequently murdered by her uncles, and Maya, feeling responsible for his death, ceased talking and remained speechless for five years.
Maya Angelou has been an influential woman throughout her life; she left her mark in history and literature, and she celebrated the experience of being black in the US. The most breathtaking of all her achievements is the construction of her own personality. As she stated once, “my mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”. Remembering her, it is important to highlight her commitment with equality; it was a fight not only for her own life, for women and for Afro-American people, but also for peace and justice all over the world.
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.
I chose Maya Angelou to do my paper on. I chose Maya Angelou because she seems like a good person to do it on because she is a really big part of the book and so there is a lot of information on here. And i also chose her because she was my age when she got this stuff done to her so i can kind of why she wanted to write a book on all of this. Maya Angelou’s background was hard for a girl that age because of all the stuff she had to deal with.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” Angelou expressed. Maya Angelou was a famous American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. Throughout her lifetime Maya starred in movies, wrote many poems, autobiographies, and essay books. She never wanted to hold anything back, whatever was on her mind she always wanted to write it down or announce it out loud. She loved the feeling of being able to express herself.
In regards to Maya Angelou’s life she said, “If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die”("Maya Angelou Quotes" 2018). This was seen throughout her body of work. Maya was known for her eye catching work and the effort she put forth into it. She became known by writers and professionals, and was seen to be involved in the civil rights movement ( “Maya Angelou is born.” 2018).