Maya Angelou - The meaning of true pride
Maya Angelou is a proud and prominent African American poet who was a very important figure when it came to the American Civil Rights Movement. She was born April 4, 1928 and was actually born with the name “Marguerite Ann Johnson” in St. Louis, Missouri. She was given the name Maya Angelou after a performance at the Purple Onion cabaret.
Maya Angelou didn’t have an easy life growing up. When she was three years old, her parents divorced and her and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Arkansas. She had a very deep bond with her grandmother but unfortunately, didn’t love her life in Arkansas because she learned the true meaning of what it meant to grow up a black girl in those times. She was treated badly, made fun of and ridiculed, and refused service for the color of her skin. Despite all of this, her grandmother tried to make life as pleasant as possible for her and instilled pride in her. After about 5 years, Maya Angelou and brother were sent back home to St. Louis to live with their mother. After a devastating rape by her mother’s boyfriend, she was sent back to Arkansas. Life with her mother was always constant disarray and after it became to be too much for her, she left to be with her father and his girlfriend. This wasn’t any better for her and she left yet again to go back to her mother. At the age of 16, she found herself pregnant.
Some Maya Angelou famous writings include “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (published in 1969) and “All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes” (published in 1986). Maya Angelou received a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for her poetry book “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die” (published in 1971) and she had the prestigious honor of reading her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” by request of Bill Clinton at his Presidential inauguration in 1993.
Her writings are a prime example of her dysfunctional childhood and how she rose with pride to overcome the obstacles she faced. Maya Angelou wrote about her experiences as a mother, a tap dancer, a prostitute and her brief bout with drugs. She wrote about trying to find her identity not only as a mother, but as a person. Maya Angelou also wrote about her experiences with racial oppression and her commitment in her heart to promote black civil rights.
Maya Angelou has received many honors and awards for her poems and books which include Woman of the Year Award and a nomination for the Tony Awards. She currently lives in her newly adopted homeland of Ghana.