From 1942 to 1945 Maya studied at California Labor School.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
600 32nd Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121, United States
George Washington High School in San Francisco, which Maya Angelou attended.
College/University
Career
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1957
American poet and singer Maya Angelou wears a red dress while dancing next to a fire in a promotional portrait taken for the cover of her album, 'Miss Calypso'.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1978
Maya Angelou gestures while speaking in a chair during an interview at her home
Gallery of Maya Angelou
2008
North Carolina, USA
Angelou and Hillary Clinton at an event.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
2009
New York City, New York, USA
Honoree/Dr. Maya Angelou speaks onstage at The Women of the Year hosted by Glamour Magazine at Carnegie Hall.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
2011
allahassee, Florida, USA
Poet Maya Angelou speaks at Florida A&M University.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Attending a garden party for her 82nd Birthday.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA 02144, USA
Dr. Maya Angelou delivers poetry to an audience of Tufts University students at the Somerville Theatre.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison (C) accepting the applause of partygoers Susan Taylor, Rita Dove, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou & others; Winston-Salem.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Author Maya Angelou preparing beef marinade at the kitchen counter for the party in honor of writers Toni Morrison & Rita Dove, at home; Winston-Salem.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1954
Maya Angelou, performing on stage
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1964
Maya Angelou with Malcolm X in Ghana, West Africa
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1974
Maya Angelou during an interview in Washington, D.C.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1981
1 Brookings Dr, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States
Maya Angelou speaking at Washington University in St Louis, April 1, 1981.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1993
Maya Angelou and film director John Singleton, who collaborated on Singleton's film 'Poetic Justice'. Angelou wrote the poetry used in the film.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1993
Maya Angelou stars as Lelia Mae in the ABC TV movie "There Are No Children Here"
Gallery of Maya Angelou
1993
Maya Angelou reciting her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in Washington DC, 20th January 1993.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
2008
33 E 17th St, New York, NY 10003, United States
Maya Angelou at Barnes & Noble in Union Square on October 30, 2008 in New York City.
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou as Calypso queen
Gallery of Maya Angelou
Dancing diva circa 1950s.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2011
Maya Angelou receiving her Presidential Medal of Freedom
Spingarn Medal
Maya Angelou won the Spingarn Medal in 1994.
National Medal of Arts
Maya Angelou was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2000.
American poet and singer Maya Angelou wears a red dress while dancing next to a fire in a promotional portrait taken for the cover of her album, 'Miss Calypso'.
American actors Cicely Tyson (L) and Maya Angelou look lovingly at a baby in a scene from the television mini-series 'Roots,' directed by Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene, and Gilbert Moses.
American politician and the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, embracing the poet Maya Angelou after a reading at his inauguration ceremony. Vice-president Al Gore is standing behind them.
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison (C) accepting the applause of partygoers Susan Taylor, Rita Dove, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou & others; Winston-Salem.
Author Maya Angelou preparing beef marinade at the kitchen counter for the party in honor of writers Toni Morrison & Rita Dove, at home; Winston-Salem.
(I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of l...)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right.
(In The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou leaves California w...)
In The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to move to New York. There she enters the society and world of black artists and writers, reads her work at the Harlem Writers Guild, and begins to take part in the struggle of black Americans for their rightful place in the world. I
(Maya Angelou's brave, defiant poem celebrates the courage...)
Maya Angelou's brave, defiant poem celebrates the courage within each of us, young and old. From the scary thought of panthers in the park to the unsettling scene of a new classroom, fearsome images are summoned and dispelled by the power of faith in ourselves.
(These four poems, “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” “We...)
These four poems, “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” “Weekend Glory,” and “Our Grandmothers,” are among the most remembered and acclaimed of Maya Angelou's poems. They celebrate women with a majesty that has inspired and touched the hearts of millions.
Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou
(Rainbow in the Cloud offers resonant and rewarding quotes...)
Rainbow in the Cloud offers resonant and rewarding quotes on such topics as creativity and culture, family and community, equality and race, values and spirituality, parenting and relationships.
(The beauty and spirit of Maya Angelou’s words live on in ...)
The beauty and spirit of Maya Angelou’s words live on in this complete collection of poetry. Throughout her illustrious career in letters, Maya Angelou gifted, healed, and inspired the world with her words. Now the beauty and spirit of those words live on in this new and complete collection of poetry that reflects and honors the writer’s remarkable life.
Maya Angelou was an American author, poet, playwright, stage and screen performer, and director, best known for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), which recalls a young African American woman's discovery of her self-confidence.
Background
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States; the second child of Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. Growing up in rural Stamps, Arkansas, with her brother, Bailey, after her parents divorce, she lived with her pious paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, who owned a general store.
As an African American, Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudices and discrimination in Arkansas. She also suffered at the hands of a family associate around the age of seven: during a visit with her mother, Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend. Then, as vengeance for the sexual assault, Angelou's uncles killed the boyfriend. So traumatized by the experience, Angelou stopped talking. She returned to Arkansas and spent years as a virtual mute.
Education
Maya Angelou attended public schools in Arkansas. During World War II, Angelou moved to San Francisco, California, where she attended George Washington High School and won a scholarship to study dance and acting at the California Labor School.
Later in life Angelou was awarded over fifty honorary degrees, including honorary degrees from Smith College, Mills College, Lawrence University, and Wake Forest University.
Before graduating the California Labor School, Angelou worked as the first black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. But later she went on to a career in theater. She appeared in Porgy and Bess, which toured 22 countries; on Broadway in Look Away; and in several off-Broadway plays, including Cabaret for Freedom, which she wrote in collaboration with Godfrey Cambridge.
During the early 1960s, Angelou lived in Egypt, where she was the associate editor of The Arab Observer in Cairo. During this time, she also contributed articles to The Ghanaian Times and was featured on the Ghanaian Broadcasting Corporation programming in Accra.
During the mid-1960s, she became assistant administrator of the School of Music and Drama at the University of Ghana. Angelou was the feature editor of the African Review in Accra from 1964 to 1966. During this time she served as northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When she returned to the United States, Angelou worked as writer-producer for 20th Century-Fox Television, from which her full-length feature film Sisters, Sisters received critical acclaim. In addition, she wrote the screenplays Georgia, Georgia and All Day Long along with the television scripts for Sister, Sister and the series premiere of Brewster Place. She wrote, produced, and hosted the NET public broadcasting series Blacks! Blues! Black! Angelou also costarred in the motion picture How to Make an American Quilt in 1995.
Angelou taught at several American colleges and universities, including the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Kansas, Wichita State University, and California State University at Sacramento. In the early 1980s, she has been Reynolds Professor and writer-in-residence at Wake Forest University.
Angelou has also been a prolific poet for decades. Her collections include Just Give Me A Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die (1971); Oh Pray My Wings Are Going to Fit Me Well (1975); And Still I Rise (1976), which was produced as a choreo-poem on Off-Broadway in 1979; and Shaker, Why Don't You Sing (1983) Poems: Maya Angelou (1986); Life Doesn't Frighten Me, illustrated by celebrated New York artist Jean Michel Basquiat (1993); On the Pulse of the Morning (1993), recited at Bill Clinton's first Presidential Inauguration; Soul Looks Back in Wonder (1994); and I Shall Not Be Moved (1997).
Angelou's poetry is fashioned almost entirely of short lyrics and jazzy rhythms. Although her poetry has contributed to her reputation and is especially popular among young people, most commentators reserve their highest praise for her prose. Angelou's dependence on alliteration, her heavy use of short lines, and her conventional vocabulary has led several critics to declare her poetry superficial and devoid of her celebrated humor. Other reviewers, however, praise her poetic style as refreshing and graceful. They also laud Angelou for addressing social and political issues relevant to African Americans and for challenging the validity of traditional American values and myths. For example, Angelou directed national attention to humanitarian concerns with her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning," which she recited at the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton. In this poem, Angelou calls for recognition of the human failings pervading American history and an renewed national commitment to unity and social improvement.
Although Angelou began her literary career as a poet, she is well known for her five autobiographical works, which depict sequential periods of her life. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) is about Marguerite Johnson and her brother Bailey growing up in Arkansas. It chronicles Angelou's life up to age sixteen, providing a child's perspective of the perplexing world of adults. Although her grandmother instilled pride and confidence in her, her self-image was shattered when she was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend. Angelou was so devastated by the attack that she refused to speak for approximately five years. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings concludes with Angelou having regained self-esteem and caring for her newborn son, Guy. In addition to being a trenchant account of an African American girl's coming-of-age, this work affords insights into the social and political tensions of the 1930s.
Her next autobiographical work, Gather Together in My Name, (1974) covers the period immediately after the birth of her son Guy and depicts her valiant struggle to care for him as a single parent. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976) describes Angelou's stage debut and concludes with her return from the international tour of Porgy and Bess. The Heart of A Woman (1981) portrays the mature Angelou becoming more comfortable with her creativity and her success. All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) recalls her four-year stay in Ghana. Subsequent volumes of autobiography include A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and Mom & Me & Mom (2013).
In 1998 she made her directorial debut with Down in the Delta, starring Alfre Woodard.
(Maya Angelou’s unforgettable collection of poetry)
1978
Religion
Maya Angelou was an outspoken Christian. "I have always tried to find myself a church. I have studied everything. I spent some time with Zen Buddhism and Judaism and I spent some time with Islam. I am a religious person. It is my spirit, but I found that I really want to be a Christian. That is what my spirit seems to be built on."
Politics
As a civil rights activist, Angelou worked for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties.
Angelou campaigned for the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential primaries, giving her public support to Hillary Clinton. When Clinton's campaign ended, Angelou put her support behind Obama, who went on to win the presidential election and became the first African-American president of the United States.
Views
Angelou's use of fiction-writing techniques such as dialogue, characterization, and development of theme, setting, plot, and language has often resulted in the placement of her books into the genre of autobiographical fiction. Angelou made a deliberate attempt in her books to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre.
Quotations:
"I'm not afraid of the ties [between past and present]. I cherish them, rather. It's the vulnerability ... it's allowing oneself to be hypnotized. That's frightening because we have no defenses, nothing. We've slipped down the well and every side is slippery. And how on earth are you going to come out? That's scary. But I've chosen it, and I've chosen this mode as my mode."
"I found that I knew not only that there was God but that I was a child of God, when I understood that, when I comprehended that, more than that, when I internalized that, ingested that, I became courageous."
"If God loves me, if God made everything from leaves to seals and oak trees, then what is it I can't do?"
"I make writing as much a part of my life as I do eating or listening to music."
"I also wear a hat or a very tightly pulled head tie when I write. I suppose I hope by doing that I will keep my brains from seeping out of my scalp and running in great gray blobs down my neck, into my ears, and over my face."
Membership
In 1959 Angelou joined the Harlem Writers Guild.
Personality
Martin Luther King Jr. was a close friend of Angelou. When he was assassinated on her birthday (April 4) in 1968, Angelou stopped celebrating it for years afterward. Angelou was also good friends with TV personality Oprah Winfrey, who organized several birthday celebrations for the award-winning author, including a week-long cruise for her 70th birthday in 1998.
Quotes from others about the person
Angelou's genius as a writer is her ability to recapture the texture of the way of life in the texture of its idioms, its idiosyncratic vocabulary and especially in its process of image-making." - Sidonie Ann Smith
"Maya Angelou was the voice of three generations. Her poetry spanned our journey, chronicled our hearts and documented our struggles as we moved from the orations of Martin Luther King to the presidency of Barack Obama." - Donna Brazile
"The great thing about being the son of Maya Angelou is that I had the good fortune to grow up around some of the greatest black artists, dancers, singers, musicians, and actors of our time." - Guy Johnson
"Maya Angelou, the famous African American poet, historian, and civil rights activist who is hailed be many as one of the great voices of contemporary literature, believes a struggle only makes a person stronger." - Michael N. Castle
"I am an English major in school with an emphasis in creative writing. I think hearing Maya Angelou speak at school last year was one of the best moments Stanford, at least, intellectually, had to offer." - Fred Savage
Interests
Writers
Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Douglas Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, Frances Harper, Anne Spencer, Jessie Fauset
Connections
In 1944, a 16-year-old Angelou gave birth to a son, Guy (a short-lived high school relationship led to the pregnancy). A poet himself, Angelou’s son now goes by the name Guy Johnson.
According to her autobiographies, she married Tosh Angelos in 1951 and Paul du Feu in 1974, and began her relationship with Vusumzi Make in 1961, but never formally married him.
Maya Angelou: A Biography of an Award-Winning Poet and Civil Rights Activist
From the child raised by her grandmother in a small village in Arkansas to the writer known as National Treasure, Angelou has lived a remarkable life. She rose from pain and poverty to achieve success as a dancer, an actress, a teacher and an award-winning author. Readers of Donna Brown Agins's compelling new profile will understand and appreciate why Angelou is one of the best-loved and most fascinating American writers.
Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration
Beautifully designed and featuring over 150 sepia portraits, family photographs, and letters from the life of one of the world’s most beloved and admired artists, this moving biography will appeal to all fans of the poet laureate, phenomenal bestselling author, and scribe for the people, Dr. Maya Angelou.
2008
Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit
A comprehensive biographical and critical reading of the works of American poet and memoirist Maya Angelou (1928-2014). Linda Wagner-Martin covers all six of Angelou's autobiographies, as well as her essay and poetry collections, while also exploring Angelou's life as an African American in the United States, her career as stage and film performer, her thoughtful participation in the Civil Rights actions of the 1960s, and her travels abroad in Egypt, Africa, and Europe.