Dr maya angelou short biography

Born: April 4, St. Louis, Missouri African American author, poet, and playwright. Maya Angelou—author, poet, playwright, stage and screen performer, and director—is best known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , the story of her early life, which recalls a young African American woman's discovery of her self-confidence.

Maya angelou childhood

Louis, Missouri. After her parents' marriage ended, she and her brother, Bailey who gave her the name "Maya" , were sent to rural Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother, who owned a general store. Although her grandmother helped her develop pride and self-confidence, Angelou was devastated when she was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend while on a visit to St.

After she testified against the man, several of her uncles beat him to death. Believing that she had caused the man's death by speaking his name, Angelou refused to speak for approximately five years. She attended public schools in Arkansas and later California. While still in high school she became the first ever African American female streetcar conductor in San Francisco, California.

She gave birth to a son at age sixteen.