Author,

1
Dr. Maya Angelou

• Author,
• educator,
• activist,
• and more

2
Beginnings

• Born April 4, 1928
• How old is she today?
• Her birthplace is St. Louis, Missouri
• Find it on the map
• Given name
• Marguerite Johnson
• Brother Bailey
• Raised in Stamps, Arkansas by her
• grandmother
• Find it on the map

3
Her First Book

• Her first and best-known work is her
  autobiography called I Know Why the Caged Bird
  Sings.
  
• What is an autobiography?
• Published in 1970
• Best seller
• Nominated for a National Book Award and a
  Pulitzer Prize
  
• One of my personal favorites!

4
Literary Career

• Written over 20 works of autobiography,
  fiction, poetry, and childrens books
  
• Titles include
• And Still I Rise
• I Shall Not Be Moved
• Gather Together in My Name
• Life Doesnt Frighten Me
• Soul Looks Back in WonderRead the titles of
  these works. What do you think you can tell
  about the author from such titles?
  

5
Awards and Honors

• Tony Award Nomination (1973)
• Emmy Nomination (1977)
• Alston/Jones International Civil Human Rights
  Award (1988)
  
• Writers Digest Award (1989)
• Essence Woman of the Year (1992)
• Inaugural Poet for President Bill Clinton
  (1993)
  
• Grammy Award (1994)
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature
  (1999)
  
• Writers Digest Award of Top 100 Best Writers
• of the Twentieth Century (1999)
• Presidential Medal of Arts (2000)
• Mother Teresa Award (2006)
• Honorary Degrees from over 30 universities

6
Still I Rise

• Maya Angelous poem Still I Rise
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?vik4bnjUCTbE
  
• What are your impressions of this poem? What
  does it make you feel or think of?

7
Still I Rise

• Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from
  a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black
  ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I
  bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror
  and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously
  clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors
  gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I
  riseI riseI rise.

8
Credits

• National Visionary Leadership Project Dr.
  Maya Angelou
  
• http//www.visionaryproject.org/nvlpmembertier /v
  isionariest1/VisionaryPages/AngelouMaya/index. asp
  
  
• Top Blacks Positive Profiles of People of
  Color
  
• http//www.topblacks.com/literature/maya- a
  ngelou.htm
  
• VG Artist Biography Angelou,
  Maya http//voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/an
  gelo u_maya.html
  
• Maya Angelou http//www.mayaangelou.com/