She was 16 years old whens he delivered her son, Guy Johnson, in 1944. She returned to Arkansas and spent about five years as a virtual mute.Ī short-lived high school relationship resulted in Maya becoming pregnant. Young Maya was so traumatized by the experience that she stopped talking. As vengeance for the sexual assault, her uncles killed the boyfriend. During a visit with her mother, Maya was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. She also suffered violence at home when she was around the age of 7. Bailey gave Marguerite the nickname “Maya,” which she would adopt as her preferred name later in life.Īs an African American, Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudices and discrimination in Arkansas. Her parents split up when she was very young, and she and her older brother, Bailey, were sent to live with their paternal grandmother, Anne Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. 1973-1981) CHILD: Guy Johnson ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries Early Life Louis, Missouri SPOUSES: Tosh Angelos (c. Quick FactsįULL NAME: Marguerite Ann Johnson BORN: ApDIED: BIRTHPLACE: St. The Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient died in May 2014 at age 86. In her work as a civil rights activist, she collaborated with Martin Luther King Jr. She became the first Black woman to have a screenplay produced with the 1972 movie Georgia, Georgia. Angelou also enjoyed a career as a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor and singer in plays, musicals, and onscreen. Some of her famous poems include “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” and “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she recited at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993 and which earned her a Grammy Award. Her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by a Black woman. A multitalented writer and performer, Maya Angelou is best known for her work as an author and poet.
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