Portrait Photo of Maya Angelou-1978-The Kansas City Times-http://commons.wikimedia.org/
Portrait Photo of Maya Angelou-1978-The Kansas City Times-http://commons.wikimedia.org/
For someone who became such a successful, influential, and powerful figure, Maya Angelou had a difficult adolescence. Marguerite Anderson, who later became known as Maya Angelou, grew up with her grandparents as a result of her parents' strained marriage. Returning to her mothers house at the age of seven, Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend. Shortly after the event, her mothers boyfriend was placed into jail and eventually killed after his release. For the six years after her mother's boyfriends' release, Angelou lived with her grandmother, becoming mute, as she believed that she was the cause of his death. In mid-late teen years, Angelou achieved the job of a streetcar conductor, becoming the first African American to work as a streetcar conductor. After having worked as a streetcar conductor for some time, Angelou returned to school. Shortly after she graduated, Angelou had her only child, Clyde Bailey Johnson. In 1949 Angelou began her marriage to Tom Angelous, who was an electrician for the US Navy, which later ended in 1952.
In the 1960's, Angelou began her activism surrounding both civil and womens rights. She published multiple works advocating for each such as I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and Just Give me a Drink Of Water 'fore I Die. Following this, in 1972, Angelou became the first African American woman to have her screenplay turned into film with her creation of Georgia, Georgia.
After her numerous works of success and her success in advocating for both civil and womens rights, Angelou was nominated for and given numerous awards. For example, in 1981, Wake Forest University offered her the the Reynolds Professorship of American Studies, the National Medal of Arts in the year 2000, in 2012 Maya Angelou was inducted into the Wake Forest University's Writers Hall of Fame, and she went on to receive over 30 honorary degrees in her lifetime.
Maya Angelou, someone who was not only an author, a dancer, a singer, an actress, and a civil rights activist, was also a women's rights activist who greatly advanced the roles of women in society. Throughout her lifetime, Aneglou wrote countless works on the rights of women such as, Phenomenal Women, Still I Rise, Woman Work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and numerous autobiographies about her experience specifically as an African American woman. Furthermore, Angelou worked alongside Malcom X and Martin Luther King Junior, ensuring that not only African American men but also African American women would have a fair, equal, and relevant place in society. As well as that, Angelou worked with numerous organizations, advocating women and their place in society. For example, Angelou joined the Harlem Writers Guild. There she expressed herself through art, poetry, dance, music, and autobiographical fiction, proving that women had a relevant and meaningful place in fighting for African American justice.