Maya Angelou
![Angelou in 1993](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Angelou_at_Clinton_inauguration_%28cropped_2%29.jpg)
She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, ''Porgy and Bess'' cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.
With the publication of ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'', Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family, and travel. Provided by Wikipedia
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1by Jennifer L. Malmberg, Donal O’Toole, Terry Creekmore, Erika Peckham, Hally Killion, Madison Vance, Rebecca Ashley, Marguerite Johnson, Christopher Anderson, Marce Vasquez, Douglas Sandidge, Jim Mildenberger, Noah Hull, Dan Bradway, Todd Cornish, Karen B. Register, Kerry S. SondgerothGet full text
Published 2020-12-01
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