Maya Angelou (IPA: /ˈmaɪə ˈændʒəloʊ/)[1], (born Marguerite Ann Johnson, April 4, 1928)[2] is an American poet, memoirist, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Angelou is known for her series of six autobiographies, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, (1969) which was nominated for a National Book Award and called her magnum opus.[3][4] Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water `Fore I Die (1971) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.[5]

Angelou recited her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton`s inauguration in 1993.[6] She has been highly honored for her body of work, including being awarded over 30 honorary degrees.[3]
Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928 to Bailey Johnson, a doorman and naval dietitian, and Vivian Baxter Johnson, a nurse, real estate agent, and, later, merchant marine. Angelou`s brother, Bailey Jr., gave her the nickname "Maya".[7] The details of Angelou`s life, although described in her six autobiographies and in numerous interviews, speeches, and articles, tend to be inconsistent. Her biographer, Mary Jane Lupton, explains that when Angelou speaks about her life, she does so eloquently but informally and "with no time chart in front of her".[8]

In 2008, Angelou`s family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test showed that she was descended from the Mende people of West Africa.[9] The program`s research showed that Angelou`s maternal great-grandmother, Mary Lee, emancipated after the Civil War, cut all ties with her slave past and renamed herself "Kentucky Shannon" because "she liked how it sounded". Little was known about Lee`s background because she prohibited anyone from knowing about it. Angelou learned that Lee became pregnant out of wedlock by her former owner, a white man named John Savin, and that he forced Lee to sign a false statement accusing another man of being the father. A grand jury indicted Savin for forcing Lee to commit perjury, and despite discovering that Savin was the father, found him not guilty. Lee was sent to the Clinton County, Missouri poorhouse with her daughter, who became Angelou`s grandmother, Marguerite Baxter. Angelou`s reaction after learning this information was, "That poor little black girl, physically and psychologically bruised."[10]

Angelou`s first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, recounts the first 17 years of her life. When Angelou was three and her brother four, their parents` "calamitous marriage" ended, and their father sent them alone by train to live with his mother, Mrs. Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas.[11] Henderson prospered financially during this time, the years of the Great Depression and World War II, because the general store she owned sold basic commodities and because "she made wise and honest investments".[12] Four years later, the children`s father "came to Stamps without warning"and returned them to their mother`s care in St. Louis.[13] At age eight, Angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother`s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. She confessed it to her brother, who told the rest of their family. Mr. Freeman was jailed for one day but was found kicked to death four days after his release. Angelou became mute, believing, as she has stated, "I thought if I spoke, my mouth would just issue out something that would kill people, randomly, so it was better not

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