Angelou, Maya

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Angelou, Maya

April 4, 1928

Born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, to Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, writer Maya Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas, by her grandmother, Anne Henderson. She related her experience of growing up in her popular autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), a title taken from the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. It was nominated for a National Book Award. Like many African-American autobiographers, Angelou saw herself not only as an individual but as a representative of black people.

What Caged Bird contributed to the tradition of African-American autobiography was its emphasis on the effects of growing up black and female in the South. Angelou writes of the rape of the protagonist by her mother's boyfriend. Until the late twentieth century, intragroup rape and incest were taboo subjects in African-American literature; Caged Bird helped to break that silence. Her second biography, Gather Together in My Name (1974), a title taken from the Bible, focuses on the vulnerable Angelou's entry into the harsh urban world of Los Angeles, while her third autobiography, Singin' & Swingin' & Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), relates the experience of her first marriage and of raising her son while pursuing her singing, dancing, and acting career.

The fourth autobiography, The Heart of a Woman (1981), a title taken from a poem by Harlem Renaissance poet Georgia Douglas Johnson, presents a mature Angelou who works with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Active in the civil rights movement, she served as northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1959–1960. In her fifth autobiography, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986), Angelou goes to Ghana, where she experiences the complexity of being an African American in Africa. She also wrote a volume of inspirational essays, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993). Her sixth book in her autobiography series, A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2003), tells the story of Angelou's return from Africa to the United States. In this book Angelou describes the civil rights movement in the United States and recounts poignant stories about the assassinations of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Angelou turned this book into a series of four CDs in which she chants, sings, and vocalizes the stories of her life. In 2003 Angelou won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for A Song Flung Up to Heaven.

Angelou has also published many volumes of poetry: Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975); And Still I Rise (1978); Shaker Why Don't You Sing? (1983); Now Sheba Sings the Song (1987); and I Shall Not Be Moved (1990). As these titles indicate, Angelou's poetry is deeply rooted in the African-American oral tradition and is uplifting in tone. Angelou says, "All my work is meant to say 'You may encounter many defeats but you must not be defeated.'"

A versatile writer, Angelou has written for television: the PBS ten-part series Black, Blues, Blacks (1968); a teleplay of Caged Bird; and for the screen, Georgia Georgia (1971) and Sister, Sister (1979). As well as being a prolific writer, Angelou has been a successful actress and received a Tony nomination for best supporting actress in the TV miniseries Roots. In 1998 she directed her first film, Down in the Delta. Angelou says of her creative diversity, "I believe all things are possible for a human being and I don't think there's anything in the world I can't do." On January 20, 1993, at the request of President Bill Clinton, Angelou concluded the president's inauguration by reading a poem composed for the occasion, "On the Pulse of Morning," which celebrated a new era of national unity.

Bibliography

Cudjoe, Selwyn R. "Maya Angelou and the Autobiographical Statement." In Black Women Writers (1950–1980), edited by Mari Evans. New York: Anchor, 1984.

Maya Angelou, interview in Claudia Tate, ed. Black Women Writers at Work. New York: Continuum, 1983.

barbara t. christian (1996)
Updated by publisher 2005

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History