Maya Angelou

I decided to choose Maya Angelou because after reading her biographical novel I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, in the ninth grade, I fell in love with the strength of her words. Maya Angelou is a woman with a haunting past, who uses her experiences to touch the lives of her readers and shed light on important issues in society. Any work of art by Angelou is worth reading, in my opinion.

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4^th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou has endeavored numerous careers, varying from dancer, actress, composer, as well as being the first black female director. Angelou is most known for her works as a poet, playwright, and writer. She is known as the spokeswoman for African Americans, and for women all around the country, but mostly for those who faced struggles growing up. Maya Angelou’s noteworthy biography series, beginning with I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a tell-all story of the writer’s struggles growing up in Missouri and Arkansas, facing rape, poverty, abuse, and self-discovery. Angelou was traumatized by the murder of her rapist by her uncles, becoming mute for five years. While not speaking, Angelou read the works of black authors such as Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. She also read the well-known works of those such as Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare. Mrs. Flowers, a black woman, helped Maya Angelou to find her voice again, which is when she began her journey into poetry. Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist, working with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and worked as a professor at the Wake Forest University. 

Sources:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/maya-angelou

http://www.biography.com/people/maya-angelou-9185388

This is a truly amazing short video of Maya Angelou's thoughts on The Power Of Words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIXgBJuphw&feature=related