Who is Maya Angelou
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The Vision of Maya Angelou
Her screenplay, the first by an African American woman ever to be filmed, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Being a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, Dr. Angelou continues to travel the world making appearances, spreading her legendary wisdom.

When We Come To It
A Brave and Startling Truth by Maya Angelou
Written for the United Nations 50th Anniversary
"A Brave and Startling Truth"
We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.
Love costs all we are and will ever be.
Yet it is only love which sets us free.
A Brave and Startling Truth.
It is possible and imperative that we discover
A brave and startling truth.
When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
And without crippling fear
When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.
A Letter To My Daughter
Letter to My Daughter
Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 07/13/2009)![]()
List Price: $25.00
Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight.
Whether she is recalling such lost friends as Coretta Scott King and Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming a Christian is a lifelong endeavor, or simply singing the praises of a meal of red rice; Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women she considers her extended family.
Like the rest of her remarkable work, Letter to My Daughter entertains and teaches; it is a book to cherish, savor, re-read, and share.
Maya Angelou at a Glance
Maya Angelou (; born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928) is an American autobiographer and poet. Having been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton, she is best known for her series of six autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adulthood experiences.Braxton, p. 4 The first, best-known, and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), focuses on the first seventeen years of her life, brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National Book Award.
Angelou has had a long and varied career, holding jobs such as fry cook, dancer, actress, journalist, educator, television producer, and film director. She was a member of the Harlem Writers Guild in the late 1950s. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and served as Northern Coordinator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Angelou has been highly honored for her body of work, including being awarded over 30 honorary degrees and the nomination of a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water Fore I Diiie.Moyer, p.297 Since the 1990s, she has had a busy career on the lecture circuit, making about 80 appearances a year. Since 1991, Angelou has taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as recipient of the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. In 1993, she recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clintons inauguration, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. In 1995, she was recognized for having the longest-running record (two years) on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List.
With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou was heralded as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African American women who was able to publicly discuss her personal life. She became recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for blacks and women. Angelou's use of fiction-writing techniques often result in the placement of her books into the genre of autobiographical fiction, but they are better characterized as autobiographies.Lupton (1998), p. 32 Angelou has made a deliberate attempt through her work to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Although her books have been used extensively in the classroom, they have also been challenged or banned in schools and libraries. Her books and poetry have covered themes such as identity, family, and racism.
What do you think of Maya Angelou?
Maya Angelou Videos
Maya Angelou Collectables
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The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou by Maya Angelou
For the first time, the complete collection of Maya Angelou's published poems-including "On the Pulse of Morning"-in a permanent collectible, handsome hardcover edition.1 point
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The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou (Modern Library) by Maya Angelou
Superbly told, with the poet's gift for language and observation, Angelou's autobiography of her childhood in Arkansas - a world of which most Americans are ignorant.1 point
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Miss Calypso
Maya Angelou is known primarily as a poet, activist and best selling author. She is far less known for her early career as a singer. In 1957, at the age of 27, she made her only sung album to date. "Miss Calypso" consisted of quite respectable calypso songs.0 points
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ABC News Classics Maya Angelou
Celebrated poet/writer/actress/performer Maya Angelou talks to ABC News about how she used her own life experiences to become an award-winning literary figure and most read black female writer in the world. Maya Angelou grew up in Stamps, Arkansas, living with her grandmother, uncle and brother in the back of their family-owned store. Angelou discusses how during a trip to St. Louis to visit her mother she was raped which led to her to become mute for several years, and how she is still haunted....0 points
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Miss Calypso
Maya Angelou is known primarily as a poet, activist and best selling author. She is far less known for her early career as a singer. In 1957, at the age of 27, she made her only sung album to date. "Miss Calypso" consisted of quite respectable calypso songs.0 points
The Wisdom and Quotes of Maya Angelou
- All great achievements require time.- We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
- All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened.
- Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.
- Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
- Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.
- Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
- I believe that every person is born with talent.
- I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
- I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.
- I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
- It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
Maya Angelou on Flickr
Maya Angelou Tribute Recordings
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Phenomenal Womenby Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
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Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell- 1st American Woman Physician
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In 1849, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 - 1910) was the first woman to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school. Elizabeth Blackwell said she turned to medicine after a close friend who was dying suggested she would have been spared her...
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Mary Walker, M.D., (1832-1919) Physician and surgeon, was the first woman to receive the Medal of Honor for her heroic front line work in The Civil War. Much ahead of her time, Dr. Walker, in 1855, was also one of the first women in the United State...
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Your Thoughts on Maya Angelou?
Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
Expressions wrote...
A lot of love went into this lens! Thank you for the inspiration.
MikeMoore wrote...
Very nice lens! Welcome to the Readers and Writers group. :)
Jolene_Belmain wrote...
Welcome to Poetry Poetry Poetry, excited to have you in my group! 5 stars!
Jewelsofawe wrote...
I love Maya Angelou! I am going to lensroll this also to my Rumi lens.
RinchenChodron wrote...
Great quotes - nice site! Welcome to the Activitst Sound Off Group.
jacquelinestone wrote...
I love Maya Angelou! She is such a gentle, loving spirit with inspiring wisdom.
















