Marguerite Annie Johnson was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents were Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson. When Maya was only three years old, her parents’ marriage failed and she and her older brother, Bailey, were sent to live with her grandmother. (Kellman 90). Mrs. Henderson and her son, Willie lived in Stamps, Arkansas. Stamps was known for its practice of racial discrimination. Mrs. Henderson began to sell hot meals out of her home to the field workers. She eventually turned their home into a small business. The Johnson Grocery Store was the first non-segregated store in Stamps. It also had places for people living quarters in the back. Maya gained most of her Faith and values from her grandmother. Mrs. Henderson raised Maya and Bailey both in church. She taught them the Christian principals, love and to respect others. She encouraged Maya to always believe in God, honest work and family (Caged Bird Legacy).
Before Maya even became a teenager she had witnessed horrible things. She was raped by her mother’s boyfriend when she was eight years old. “Confused and terrified by this act and the subsequent murder of Freeman-a murder that the child mistakenly thinks she has caused-Angelou
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She is aware of how treat her compared to a white little girl. She starts to think that the idea of being beautiful is to have fair skin with long blonde hair. As a young child her confidence is shattered because she sees herself as fat, black girl that is stuck in a nightmare. She believed that beauty meant white beauty. Although Stamps, Arkansas is very strict with segregation, young Maya is not for sure if white people even exists. When Maya gets older, she aware of more cases of racism occurring. Maya had a white boss, Mrs. Cullinam that refused to call her Maya but instead she called her Mary. This showed the lack of respect that Mrs. Cullinan had for Maya (Gates Jr. and McKay