Shafer+-+Angelou



Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Johnson) (April 4, 1928) Biography
 * writer, dancer, song-writer, African-American activist
 * born in St. Louis, Missouri
 * was raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of 8
 * following the rape, she went mute for almost 6 years
 * during her teens and early twenties she was a dancer with a life filled with isolation and experimentation
 * gave birth to her son Guy at age 16
 * after this, she toured in Europe performing in the play //Porgy and Bess//
 * she then spent several years in Ghana as editor of //African Review//
 * has mastered the French, Spanish, Arabic, and Italian languages, as well as the West African language Fanti
 * read her poem //On the Pulse of Morning// at Bill Clinton's Presidential inauguration in 1993
 * teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and has a lifetime position as the Reynolds professor of American studies there
 * corresponded heavily with Malcolm X and aided him in building his Organization for African-American Unity; this ended, however, with his assassination

Acclaimed Works
 * acclaimed works now include more than 30 titles
 * Five-volume autobiography commenced with //I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings// in 1970
 * these stories outlined her life and different obstacles she faced
 * //All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes,// a book published in 1986
 * //My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me,// a book published in 1994
 * //And I Still Rise// (1987)
 * one of her published volumes of verse
 * //Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou// (1995)
 * another published volume of verse
 * //Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die// (1971)
 * another volume of work that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
 * //Letter to My Daughter//
 * published in 2008, it was a work written for the daughter she never had
 * won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Non-Fiction

Citations "Maya Angelou Biography -- Academy of Achievement." //Academy of Achievement Main Menu//. 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2010. .

"Maya Angelou Biography." //Biographhy.com//. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2010. <[]>.