Maya Angelou (1928-2014), an American writer, is best known for “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (1969), probably the best single book about what it was like to grow up Black under Jim Crow. She is also also known for the poems “Still I Rise” (1978) and “Phenomenal Woman” (1978).
She was born Marguerite Johnson. Maya is what her brother called her. He was into the Mayans. Angelou comes from her first husband’s Greek name, Angelos.
Her parents split up when she was three. She and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas in the Jim Crow South of the 1930s.
Four years later, her mother brought them back to live with her, in St Louis. That lasted only six months: at age eight she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. When she told her brother, the rapist was soon found dead. She learned the terrible power of words.
They were sent back to Stamps. For five years she did not talk. People thought she was a moron or an idiot. But her grandmother told her:
“Mama know when you and the Good Lord get ready, you are going to be a teacher. You’ll teach all over the world.”
She found a voice in books: Kipling, Poe, Butler, Thackeray, Henley, Anne Spencer, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson , W.E.B. Du Bois’ “Litany at Atlanta” (1906) and, above all, Shakespeare and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Writing helped her to talk again.
In the 1940s she went to live with her mother in San Francisco. She became the first female conductor of a San Francisco streetcar. Later she worked as a dancer at a strip club. That led to dancing at the Purple Onion, which in turn led to dancing in “Porgy and Bess” from 1954 to 1955, a show that toured Europe and Africa.
Afterwards she became a nightclub singer. She joined the Harlem Writers Guild and the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), the civil rights organization led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1961 she married Vusumzi Make, a South African freedom fighter. That lasted only a few years. She worked as an editor of the Arab Observer in Egypt. From 1962 to 1966 she lived in Ghana, working for the African Review and the Ghanian Times, among others. It was the first time she truly felt at home.
Back in the US, she rejoined the Harlem Writers Guild. James Baldwin loved her poetry. He urged her to write an autobiography. And she did, as six books, covering the following years:
- 1928-1945: I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings (1969)
- 1945-1947: Gather Together in My Name (1974)
- 1949-1955: Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas (1976)
- 1957-1962: The Heart of a Woman (1981)
- 1962-1965: All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986)
- 1965-1968: A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002)
She also wrote poetry, essays and scripts for film, stage and television.
In the 1970s she joined the Negro Ensemble Company. Like others in the company, she appeared in “Roots” (1977).
From 1981 onwards she was a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
– Abagond, 2016.
See also:
- Welcome to Black Women’s History Month 2016!
- In memoriam: Maya Angelou
- books
- Jim Crow
- DNA ancestry tests and Black Americans
- Negro Ensemble Company
- Influenced
- influenced by:
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Wow
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She was a indeed a phenomenal woman. May she rest in peace.
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Obama’s kiss. The kiss of death for her integrity.
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Explain yourself.
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@ Mary Burrell:
She was indeed. The poem “Phenomenal Woman” is one of my favorite poems by her as well as “Still I Rise”. She was an inspirational woman who uplifted you with her profound words. She will be missed. RIP Ms. Angelou.
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She sold her integrity to help sell us a traitor. He gave her a medal and a kiss in return.
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@Leigh204: I love those poems as well.
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@nomad
I agree. Obama’s kiss is the kiss of a Judas.
Too many Black people are still blinded by his shining head of gold to see his feet of clay.
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@ Abagond
Thank you for detailing facets of Maya Angelou’s life’s journey. I will have to read her other five autobiographical books someday.
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@ Afrofem
Do you think that Obama – as the first Black President of the USA – could have done better that he actually did (is doing)?
Could you develop a little more on this? What things have you expected from him, but he didn’t deliver? (We are speaking about America as it is… with not few White racists – see the Trump’s crowd -, police which sometimes go on the kill against civilians, a country with international standings to protect since long, etc)
The above lines aren’t meant to be sarcastic. I don’t live in the USA and, seriously, I ask myself, what kind of things could this first Black President have done without calling to himself the whole ire of the White Power Structure.
My ideas about this Presidency were explained in more details elsewhere:
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/what-if-christians-were-seen-like-muslims/#comment-303076)
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@Afrofem
after nearly eight years you’d think everybody would be woke to his perfidy. approval ratings tell a different story. i guess you CAN fool some of the people all of the time
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@munubantu
I would be happy to write more about Obama. It will take some time; off the cuff comments won’t do for such a figure.
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@Nomad I agree that Obama is a lame duck President and poor excuse for a Black man but I disagree with your assertion that she lost her integrity. The award she received was in existence long before Obama’s tenure in office. The President just happens to be the one that hands it out, it has no bearing on the recipient
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Some people do things unbecoming of themselves when they are forced to conform to societal queues, laws and rules, not necessarily codified by their own culture. At least there isn’t any blood on Maya’s hands. It’s unfortunate that I’m unable to say the same thing about the other person in the picture.
Rest in peace Ms. Angelou and may the good Lord keep you!
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^Like Tyler Perry??
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@A and blakksage
There is no actual blood on Obama’s hands. But he killed a lot of people. I don’t know. As an elder leader, cultural arbiter, poet and feeler of compassion, she should have looked out for us more. Us whose opinions she cab influence, before giving this cipher her stamp of approval. And even afterward, after he had started droning wedding parties with double taps and trying to undercut social security, if only she had said “I was wrong. The man is a charlatan. I’m sorry I gave my stamp of approval”. She owed us an apology. Oprah owes us an apology.
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@Nomad said: “There is no actual blood on Obama’s hands. But he killed a lot of people.”
Obomber’s hands having blood on them is either a figure of speech, a trope, a metaphor or an analogy. Take your pick!
Furthermore, are you saying that simply because Ms. Angelou was kissed by President Obomber, that her entire compendium of literary work should then be dismissed?
Also, I have a little advice for you: while waiting for an apology from Oprah, don’t hold your breath!
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@blakksage
‘because Ms. Angelou was kissed by President Obomber, that her entire compendium of literary work should then be dismissed?’
Nope. I didn’t say that. You trying to put words in my mouth? I said she owed black people an apology. And I’m not holding my breath for Oprah’s apology either. Just like I’m not holding my breath for reparations. Neither is likely forthcoming. Doesn’t mean it isn’t owed.
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Maya owes you nothing,
and Oprah owes you even less.
If you’re of voting age then it’s expected that one has done his own due diligence before casting a vote.
If you’re still looking for the next great savior to come from the celebrity/entertainment class – good luck with that.
If you still believe that politicians, preachers and those in positions of power or influence care about you…
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@Uglyblackjohn
And if pigs could fly yuo’d leave De Nile.
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I see you have a strong dislike for Obama. How Maya Angelou figures into it is still something I haven’t quite parsed.
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@munubantu
The short answer is: by not making things worse.
Obama campaigned and was elected during a time of extreme national crisis. Thanks to the gambling addicts on Wall Street who treat the banks and the stock market like a casino, millions of American families lost their homes to predatory loan swindles. Millions of American workers were pushed out on the street in the economic collapse that followed.
In many ways, Obama out-slicked former president Bill “Slick Willie” Clinton. The American people fell for the “hope and change” marketing. No group fell harder than African Americans. The optics of a Black president and his lovely Black wife dazzled them into insensibility. While Black folks were marveling over the “first Black President”, the Obama administration was making the lives of African Americans materially worse with policy initiatives and public actions such as:
1. HAMP (otherwise known as the Mortgage Swindle version 3.0)
The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was billed as a life preserver for families facing foreclosure, but was actually a set of stylish concrete weights designed to drag struggling homeowners further underwater. HAMP helped big banks at the expense of struggling families who were overwhelmingly Black and Latino.
The Intercept’s Dave Dayen describes the effects of HAMP:
https://theintercept.com/2015/12/28/obama-program-hurt-homeowners-and-helped-big-banks-now-its-dead/
A foreclosure moratorium by executive order coupled with pressuring the banks to modify loan terms, would have provided breathing room to millions of people and allowed them to keep their homes.
2. Defunding HBCU’s
A little known policy that was a real kick in the teeth to Black families was the Obama administration’s cuts to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU’s). In 2009, the Obama administration slashed $73 million in federal aid to HBCU’s.
Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report summed up the cuts and their impact this way:
Ford continues,
http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/first-black-president-cuts-funds-black-higher-education/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/historically-black-schools-say-obamas-policies-have-fallen-short/2015/03/06/8ad96c70-bc71-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/hbcus-obama-administration-black-colleges-lawsuit_n_2869216.html/
The Obama administration could have chosen to maintain historical levels of funding for HBCU’s or even increased funding given the increased need. Even George Bush did not seek to push HBCU’s over a financial cliff.
3. The Betrayal of Organized Labor
Remember the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)? EFCA would have protected the rights of workers to join a union without fear of firing or harassment by management. Obama and the Congressional Democrats fiddled, dithered and scratched all manner of body parts until the clock ran out on this bill. That stab in organized labor’s back occurred after a massive push by every labor union in the country to put the Democratic betrayers in office.
Obama could have used the power of his office (including threats, coercion, arm-twisting backscratching and sweet talking) to push that bill through like President Lyndon B. Johnson did with Medicare Act in 1965.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/medicare-bill-1965
4. His non-response to State violence against Black people, except to call protesters “thugs”!
Obama could choose to use his “bully pulpit” as president to speak out against state violence directed against Black people. All it takes is caring and guts.
5. His public tears over the gun murders of White children of Sandy Hook school, in affluent Newtown, Connecticut, in sharp contrast to his stony silence over the numerous gun murders of equally innocent working class Black children in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
6. Secret “trade” treaties: The Obama administration has secretly negotiated corporate giveaway treaties, including the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), its European counterpart (TTIP) and the abominable Trade In Services Agreement (TISA). If those outrageous bills are passed our corrupt Congress, Americans will lose national sovereignty and become little more than corporate sharecroppers. Those agreements will legitimize the snatching of American tax dollars by greedy, bloated and incompetent multinational corporations. One of the more offensive sections of the TPP allows corporations to sue governments because of the loss of “anticipated” profits—-ultimate welfare for the rich!
TPP : https://www.eff.org/issues/tpp
TTIP: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-is-ttip-and-six-reasons-why-the-answer-should-scare-you-9779688.html
TISA: http://www.epi.org/blog/tisa-a-secret-trade-agreement-that-will-usurp-americas-authority-to-make-immigration-policy/
7. NDAA: The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) stripped the American people of the rights afforded under the Magna Carta, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Under the NDAA, the Federal government can legally:
Section 1021 of the NDAA defines suspects as those who support the usual Middle Eastern foes, plus anyone who “substantially supports,” “directly supports” or are considered “associated forces” of those foes. These terms were left intentionally vague. Anyone can be swept up and shipped away to some secret prison without legal recourse. The Obama administration mounted a vigorous (and successful) defense of the law when it faced a legal challenge in 2013.
It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters labeled such a threat by a relentless media campaign, rounded up and disappeared. Black people are always impaled on the tip of the spear of oppressive laws like the NDAA. Imagine how such powers will be used by a President Cruz or a President Trump!
https://www.stopndaa.org/aboutndaa/
I refused to vote for Obama—-twice. I saw him for what he was from the earliest days of his candidacy; a Reagan disciple and flimflam man. I didn’t expect him to govern as an anti-racist. I only hoped he would minimize the damage to the Black community. Instead he has betrayed the interests of the Democratic party’s most loyal voting bloc through inaction and back-room deals. The enormity of the damage he has inflicted on Black people will not be fully acknowledged until years after he leaves office. I expect there will always be some Black people who support him. I will not be one of those people.
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@Afrofem
Thats the best take down of Obama I’ve read. You hit some points i wasn’t aware of. I’d add he’s dropped more bombs and droned more brown people then Bush. (over 23,000 bombs in 2015 alone) He was suppose to be the anti war president but he never made good on his promises and instead opened up a new milatary base in New Zealand. His most rediculous moment was on Earth day showing off a Bradley tank and fighter jet run off of bio fuel. The idea that making weapons of mass distruction “green” sounds like a SNL script.
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@Afrofem
‘ he has betrayed the interests of the Democratic party’s most loyal voting bloc through inaction and back-room deals. The enormity of the damage he has inflicted on Black people will not be fully acknowledged until years after he leaves office.’
well said.
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Mack Lyons (@DDSSBlog)
‘I see you have a strong dislike for Obama.’
And it’s thoroughly justified, as illustrated by Afrofem. As I said Angelou’s role was validating the mountebank and encouraging black people to vote for him. Oprah’s role was encouraging white people. They bare some responsibility for the fiasco that has followed. People with great influence, like Oprah and Maya, have a responsibility to use that influence wisely. Instead they aided Obama in subverting the black civil rights tradition. In the face of the ongoing litany of his transgressions, they never spoke up. Bombing brown kids, destroying the most prosperous African nation, trying his best to cut social security and all the rest (see Afrofem) was alright with them. Wait. I think Maya did complain about school vouchers or something. But that was it. The Obama they sold us was fine and dandy to them. For the rest of us, I don’t think we’ll ever recover from Obamage.
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@Uglyblackjohn: Well said.
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@nomad
“…Angelou’s role was validating the mountebank and encouraging black people to vote for him. Oprah’s role was encouraging white people.”
You are correct. Both iconic women expended some of their enormous social capital and moral authority to persuade people to fall in behind that counterfeit liberal.
Both women also stayed silent when he publicly berated Black people with racist stereotypes in an effort to boost his credibility with the bigoted White public. As Dr. King said: “silence is betrayal”.
“…destroying the most prosperous African nation…” Libya?
“Obamage”, very apt.
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Mack Lyons (@DDSSBlog)
By way of contrast, look at another black public figure who was a strong supporter of Obama. Cornel West. When he found out what Obama was about, he spoke out. He caught hell for it. But he spoke out. To reverse himself like that took courage. It’s something Angelou was probably not capable of doing. As, of course, it is impossible for Oprah to do. Two guys I had never paid that much attention to, Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, earned my respect in the Age of Obama.
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@Afrofem
Yep. Libya. Not to mention facilitating the murder of Qaddafi (sp?).
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I love reading about her life and the stories about her mother Vivian Baxter. Her mother was a force to be reckoned with. In one of her autobiographies she tells the story of how a man Miss Angelou had been involved with had beaten her and she was unconscious and the guy was driving around with her. Some local people in the community saw him and reported this to her mother. Her mother made some phone calls and gathered some of her friends who happened to be a couple of men and they went to where the guy was holding Maya and they threatened the guy and he had to release her. They told if he ever put hands on her again they would kill him. Even when she was a small child and she was molested by some man in the community, she went mute. She finally revealed the name of the man and her uncles went after him and the guy went missing and was never heard from again. She had an amazing life. I wish I could have known her.
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I love how Oprah Winfrey tells how they were attending a dinner party at her home. And one of the dinner guests used a pejorative slur against gay people and Miss Angelou asked that guest to leave her home. She didn’t tolerate negative talk or people in her space. I like that about her.
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Dr. Maya Angelou is just awe inspiring she spoke 8 languages, Spanish, Italian and Arabic, West African Fanti and English fluently. Along with being a writer of books, and a playwright and a fantastic cook. She also published cookbooks and she was also an actress and dancer. She accomplished so much and faced many obstacles and tragedies. She overcame all of her obstacles. She has done more in her life than most could ever aspire to. She is an example of a phenomenal life. An just like her poem she is a most extraordinary woman indeed.
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Gather Together In My Name, Singing, Swinging and Getting Merry Like Christmas and I Know Why The Gaged Bird Sings are my favorite books among many books that I have read by various black authors.
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@Afrofem
just for fun
Obamage and the slithy trolls
Did scribe and bloviate the wabe
All spastic were the asser holes
And bum raps outgabe
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