Maya Angelou

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude"

Maya Angelou, born as Marguerite Annie Johnson Angelou on April 4, 1928, was an award winning poet and author. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri to parents who split up soon after her birth. Her brother and her went to live in Stamps, Arkansas with her paternal grandmother. Maya grew up experiencing firsthand racism and discrimination. When she was seven years old, she went to visit her mother but during this visit, her mother's boyfriend raped her. After hearing about this, Maya's uncles killed the boyfriend and this left Maya so traumatized that she wouldn't speak.

Maya moved to San Francisco during WWII, where she won a scholarship at the California Labor School for dance and acting. She appeared in a few off-Broadway productions and released an album titled, "Miss Calypso." In the 1960s, Maya spent most of her time in Africa, living in Egypt and Ghana. She worked a a freelance writer. While in Ghana, she joined a community of "Revolutionist Returnees” and became close friends with Malcolm X. When she returned to the United States, she helped him set up the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

On her birthday in 1968, her close friend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Maya stopped celebrating her birthday after this and sent King's widow flowers for over thirty years, up until her death.

Maya's most famous publication, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" made history when it became a nonfiction bestseller. It was the first book by an African-American women to be on that list. Her book also broke the record for longest time on the bestseller's list, it was on there for over two years. This book is a memoir about Maya's childhood and young adult life.

Her screenplay "Georgia, Georgia," written in 1972, was the first screenplay ever produced by an African-American women. Maya wrote this screenplay after writing, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" because she wanted to challenge herself artistically.

Maya Angelou broke boundaries for African-American women. She became an icon who inspired soon to-be icons. Her legacy lives on in those who she inspired. Maya Angelou is a woman every girl should learn about, no matter their race. As a society, we need to give credit to those who's credibility has been waiting backstage while others have been in the spotlight.