What Are Maya Angelou's Accomplishments

Maya Angelou lived during the rampant genocide of the Ku Klux Klan which greatly influenced her life and works. Many difficulties bombarded her daily life, leaving her with every reason to run away and become a mute. In fact, she spent a length of time refusing to speak a word to anybody, and for good reason. Many experiences, both good and bad, were able to be expressed eloquently into her works of literature which awed the world. Maya Angelou lead a captivating life from her early years and throughout her teenage and adult years allowing her to accomplish much. Having to grow up with her grandma rather than a mother or father had its difficulties, but nonetheless, Angelou prevailed. She was born April 4, 1928 in Saint Louis, Missouri.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference soon received a new coordinator at the request of Martin Luther King Jr in 1959 (poets.org). Even globally was she being recognized! She became the associate editor of The Arab Observer in Cairo, Egypt 1961-1962) and in Accra, Ghana, she became the feature editor of African Review (1964-1966) (poets.org). I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing, written in 1969, was the first nonfiction best seller written by an African American female (biography.com). Among these, she was also the executive producer and author of “Three Way Choice” written in 1971 (poets.org). As the first black female director in Hollywood, she wrote the screenplay and musical score for “Georgia, Georgia” in 1972 (poets.org). In 1973, she earned a Tony (an annual award given to people for their theater attainments) for her performance in “Look Away” (biography.com). Her PBS special, “Afro Americans in the Arts”, was awarded the Golden Eagle Award (given to recognize achievements by professional directors, actors, and writers in the film industry) (poets.org). Presidents even recognized Ms. Maya! Ford’s appointment of Angelou to the Bicentennial Commission in in 1974 was followed with Carter’s appointment of her to Commission for International Woman of the Year (poets.org). Perhaps one may remember Bill Clinton’s request that she recite her Grammy winning “On the Pulse of Morning” at his 1993 election. President's wishes were not the only wishes she was fulfilling. She was scouted to serve as a Reynolds professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, and obliged from 1982 until she died on May 28, 2014 (poets.org; biography.com). Angelou acquired numerous awards as well. The National Medal of Arts in 2000, 2 NAACP Image Awards in the nonfiction category in 2005 and 2009, and even Obama’s medal of freedom in 2010 were just a few of her awards