Her efforts resulted in the enormously successful 1969 memoir about her childhood and young adult years, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. In Accra (Ghana), she became close friends with Malcolm X during his visit in the early 1960s.Īfter returning to the United States, Maya Angelou was urged by friend and fellow writer James Baldwin to write about her life experiences. Angelou also held a position at the University of Ghana for a time. While the play earned strong reviews, Maya moved on to other pursuits, spending much of the 1960s abroad She first lived in Egypt and then in Ghana, working as an editor and a freelance writer. In 1961, Maya Angelou appeared in an off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks with James Earl Jones, Lou Gossett Jr. A member of the Harlem Writers Guild and a civil rights activist, Maya Angelou organized and starred in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, also serving as the SCLC's northern coordinator. She landed a role in a touring production of Porgy and Bess, later appearing in the off-Broadway production Calypso Heat Wave (1957) and releasing her first album, Miss Calypso (1957). In the mid-1950s, Maya's career as a performer began to take off. In 1950 she married Tosh Angelos, a Greek sailor, but the marriage lasted only a few years. While still in high school she became the first ever African American female streetcar conductor in San Francisco, California. She attended public schools in Arkansas and later California. Believing that she had caused the man's death by speaking his name, Maya Angelou refused to speak for approximately five years. After she testified against the man, several of her uncles beat him to death. Although her grandmother helped her develop pride and self-confidence, Angelou was devastated when she was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend while on a visit to St. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.Īfter her parents' marriage ended, she and her brother, Bailey (who gave her the name "Maya"), were sent to rural Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother, who owned a general store. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. Maya Angelou was an American author, poet, dancer, actress, and singer.
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