Maya Angelou, an award winning poet once said, ”We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” She out of all people would be the one to know that. People would try and put her down because of her race, but she didn’t let them stop her. With a little determination and a whole lot of hard work, she was, and still is, one of the most famous poets ever.
Marguerite Ann Johnson, or Maya Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. At just three years old she was sent by her mother, Vivian Baxter Johnson, to go live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, where she would stay until she was around 12. Her father died in 1930, when she was just two years old. Besides her mother she had a brother named Bailey Johnson Jr, who was one year older than her. She had a rough childhood. At the age of 8 her mother’s boyfriend raped her, and consequently he was killed by a few of
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She first started off in an American opera, called Porgy and Bess. She later was in a production of Calypso Heat Wave and released her first album with the title, Miss Calypso. After that she traveled working as a writer. When she returned to America her friend and fellow writer, James Baldwin, encouraged her to write about her life. She decided to give it a try and she ended up making history. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings made history by becoming the first non-fiction bestseller written by an African American woman. After that she continued to write many books. In 1972 she made history again, this time with her screenplay of Georgia, Georgia. In 1993 she recited The Pulse On Morning, for Bill Clinton’s inaugural ceremony. One of her obstacles was in 1968 Martin Luther KIng Jr., one of her close friends, died on her birthday. For years after that she didn’t celebrate her birthday in honor of him. She continued to write books, poems, and perform until she died on May 28,