Many people have not heard of this great woman Maya Angelou. She is not a Hollywood star or a movie star, but instead she is an author. Several people do not care anything about authors, but they make a big difference in our lives. To learn more about this rare author, continue reading.

      Maya Angelou was born April 4^th in the year of 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Mayas given name was Marguerite Johnson. She was given the nickname Maya Angelou after her performance as a dancer at the Purple Onion cabaret. Maya Angelou's father, Bailey Johnson was a naval dietician, and her mother was Vivian Johnson. She also had one brother named Bailey, who was named after her father. When Maya was about three years old, her parents divorced and Maya and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Her grandmother who she called momma had love for everyone. But besides her love, her grandmother was a woman of discipline. She taught Maya and her brother to treat everyone with respect no matter who the person was. But growing up in Arkansas, Maya Angelou learned what it was like to be a black person which white people hated so much. In addition to that, she also learned what it felt like to wear hand me downs from white folks and what prejudice was like. Besides the dreadful things that occurred, Mayas grandmother made religion important in her life.

     After five years of being separated her mother, Vivian, the children were sent back to St. Louis to live with her. When they had moved, the worst thing in Mayas life occurred. The worst thing that happened to her was, her mothers boyfriend raped her. This devastating act of violence caused her to not speak to anyone for nearly five years. Eventually, Maya was sent back to Stamps, Arkansas because no one could handle the depressing state that she was in. With help from a lady, Mrs. Flowers, she began to change into the confidential young girl that she once was. Once again in 1940, both Maya and her brother Bailey were sent to San Francisco to live with their mother. But living with her mother soon became too much for her so she ran away to live with her father and his girlfriend in a broke down trailer. But eventually, she found that life with her father was no better than living with her mother. So, she ended up living n a ruined car in a junkyard. This junkyard contained many homeless children and it took her a month to get back home to her mother. When she began to live with her mother again, Maya wanted to prove to everyone that she was a mature woman. So, she found herself pregnant, and at the age of sixteen she bore a son, Guy.

      In Maya Angelou's adult years, she devoted her life to writing books. Some of the books that she wrote included I Know Why The Cage Bird Sings, Gather Together in My Name, and Singin' and Swingin' and Getting Merry Like Christmas. These books are all about herself but in more details. Maya Angelou has earned the La Home Journal Woman of the Year award, Matrix award, and the Golden Eagle Award. She was also appointed by Gerald Ford to the Bi-Centennial and later by Jimmie Carter to the Commission for International Woman of the year. I think she deserves the awards for her achievements because her love for literature has made her writing career a success.