Let’s take a look at the life and accomplishments of the highly esteemed writer, teacher, singer, actress, and activist Maya Angelou. By the time she died on 2014 at the age of 86 years old, she had lived through three major time periods in US histrory, she collected more than 50 honorary degrees from institutions throughout the country, and exerted major influence over how black female writers are perceived in society. Check out the timeline of her life, and learn how her experiences shaped Maya Angelou into the woman she became known as.
Name: Dr. Maya Angelou
1928: Born April 4, Marguerite Annie Johnson
1931: Parents are divorced; sent, with her brother, to live with her father’s parents
1935: Sent back to mom; sexually assaulted and raped by mom’s boyfriend, who was arrested and jailed (for one day) and murdered days after being released; after feeling like her voice killed him, Angelou went mute for almost 5 years
1940: Sent back to grandparents, who help Angelou speak again, along with a teacher
1942: Sent back to mom, attends school
1944: Becomes first female cable care conductor in San Francisco
1945: Gives birth to her first son
1951: Married, controversial at the time because he was Greek
1954: Divorced; begins to go by Maya Angelou; joins the cast of Porgy and Bess and tours across Europe; her love for language fluorishes during this time as she becomes proficient in a few languages
1957: Recorded her first album
1959: Moves to New York to pursue her writing career
1960: Meets Martin Luther King, Jr., organized Cabaret for Freedom for Southern Christian Leadership Conference and named the Nothern Cordinator for SCLC.
1961: Performs in The Blacks, Meets Vusumzi Make; moves to Cairo; becomes editor at The Arab Observer
1962: Relatinship with Make ends; moves to Ghana; son is injured in a car accident; becomes an administrator at the University of Ghana; becomes an editor for The African Review and a writer for the Ghanian Times and Radio Ghana; performs in Ghana’s National Theatre
1965: Moves back to the US to help Malcolm X build up a new civil rights organization; when Malcolm X was assassinated, she moves to Hawaii with her brohter, where she picks up singing again
1967: Returns to NY
1968: MLK asks her to organize a walk, which she postpones; MLK is then assassinated on her 40th birthday; writes her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; writes, produced, and narrated Blacks, Blue, Black!
1972: First screenplay written by a black woman is produced, Georgia, Georgia
1973: Married
1981: Divorced; returns to Southern US, becomes a professor at Wake Forest University
1990: Begins lecture circuit
1993: Recites poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at Clinton’s inauguration; wins Grammy for the recording
1995: Recites her second public poem “A Brave and Startling Truth”
1996: Directs Down in the Delta; collaborates with Ashford and Simpson on an R&B album
2000: Collaborates with Hallmark on a variety of products, including greeting cards
2008: Campaigns for the Democratic party
2010: Donates papers and memorabilia to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
2011: Teaches her last course; becomes a consultant for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
2013: Final speaking engagement; final installment of her seven part autobiography Mom and Me and Mom published
2014: Dies May 28
Famous Quotes:
Angelou, although wildly successful and influential, did not live without struggle. We can all learn something from her and how she grew from her struggles and any roadblocks placed in her way.
HCXO,
Emily