Born April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri , Dr. Maya Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but also absorbs the faith and values of traditional African-American family , community and culture unwavering .
As a teenager, Dr. Angelou love for the arts won her a scholarship to study dance and drama at the School of Labor San Francisco. At 14 , he left to become the first African American female cable car driver San Francisco. Later finished high school , giving birth to her son, Guy , a few weeks after graduation . As a young single mother , she supported her son by working as a waitress and cook, however her passion for music , dance, performance and poetry would soon take center stage .
Maya Angelou Biography
In 1954 and 1955 , Dr. Maya Angelou toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess. She studied modern dance with Martha Graham , danced with Alvin Ailey on television variety shows and , in 1957 , recorded her first album, Calypso Lady. In 1958 , he moved to New York, where she joined the Harlem Writers Guild , acted in the historic Off- Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks and wrote and performed Cabaret for Freedom .In 1960 , Dr. Angelou moved to Cairo , Egypt, where he served as editor of the English language weekly The Arab Observer . The following year, he moved to Ghana, where he taught at the University School of Music and Drama in Ghana , he worked as features editor for the Review of Africa and wrote for The Ghanaian Times .
During her years abroad , Dr. Angelou read and studied voraciously , French rule , Spanish , Italian, Arabic and the West African language Fanti . While in Ghana , met with Malcolm X and , in 1964 , he returned to the U.S. to help build his new Organization of African American Unity.
Shortly after his arrival in the United States , Malcolm X was assassinated , and the organization was dissolved . Soon after X 's assassination , Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked Dr. Angelou to serve as Northern Coordinator of the Conference of the Southern Christian Leadership . King assassination , falling on her birthday in 1968 , left her devastated.
With the guidance of his friend, the novelist James Baldwin, began working on the book that would become I know why the caged bird sings . Published in 1970 , I know why the Caged Bird Sings was published to international acclaim and enormous popular success. The list of her published verse , non-fiction, and fiction now includes more than 30 bestselling titles .
A pioneer in film and television, Dr. Angelou wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the 1972 film Georgia , Georgia. Her script , the first African American woman to be filmed , was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
She continues to appear on television and in films, including the landmark television adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots (1977) and John Singleton's Poetic Justice (1993 ) . In 1996 , he directed his first feature film, Down in the Delta . In 2008 , he composed poetry for and narrated the award-winning documentary The Black Candle , directed by MK Asante .
Dr. Angelou has served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Lincoln in 2008 Medal of Arts in 2000, and has received 3 Grammy awards. President Clinton asked him to compose a poem to read at his inauguration in 1993. Dr. Angelou reading her poem " On the Pulse of the Morning " was broadcast live around the world .
Dr. Angelou has received over 50 honorary degrees and is Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University .
Words and actions of Dr. Angelou continues to stir our souls , energize our bodies , liberate our minds, and heal our hearts. - Maya Angelou Biography
By
Published: 2013-12-13T22:56:00-08:00
Maya Angelou Biography
Publish Maya Angelou Biography di Bio Street, updated at: 10:56 PM. URL http://abalabalnyoba.blogspot.com/2013/12/maya-angelou-biography.html. Redaction Michele Brown
0 Comments