The new exhibit is called 'Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou.' Upon learning of Angelou's death the items were pulled out of a collection of her work that had been tucked away after being purchased in 2010. "We actually have notes where she writes bible verses down and she's actually looking for chapter and verse of what she's going to use as well as the handwritten manuscript," he explained. Muhammad said that the exhibit contains import pieces of the story. "Not only did she help to empower women and girls around the country who had been victims of sexual assault or abuse, but also did it in a way with dignity and grace and respect," explained Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of The Schomburg Center in Harlem. The story ended with Angelou becoming a teen mother. The story detailed a harsh upbringing in Arkansas that was filled with poverty, segregation, and violence. She wrote music, plays and screenplays, received an Emmy nomination for her acting in "Roots,'' and never lost her passion for dance, the art she considered closest to poetry.Īngelou rose to fame with her 1969 autobiography 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings'. She mastered several languages and published not just poetry, but advice books, cookbooks and children's stories. She was a mentor to Oprah Winfrey, whom she befriended when Winfrey was still a local television reporter, and often appeared on her friend's talk show program. She wrote and read an original composition, "On the Pulse of Morning,'' which became a million-seller. She was the poet chosen to read at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993. In 1998, she directed the film "Down in the Delta'' about a drug-wrecked woman who returns to the home of her ancestors in the Mississippi Delta. "Every year, on that day, Coretta and I would send each other flowers,'' Angelou said of King's widow, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006. Three years later, she was helping King organize the Poor People's March in Memphis, Tenn., where the civil rights leader was slain on Angelou's 40th birthday. She worked as a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Council, and lived for years in Egypt and Ghana, where she met Malcolm X and remained close to him until his assassination, in 1965. But it won't be for singing.''Īfter renaming herself Maya Angelou for the stage, she toured in "Porgy and Bess'' and Jean Genet's "The Blacks'' and danced with Alvin Ailey. She spent a few days with Billie Holiday, who was kind enough to sing a lullaby to Angelou's son Guy, surly enough to heckle her off the stage and astute enough to tell her: "You're going to be famous. In her early 20s, she danced at a strip joint, ran a brothel, was married to her first of three husbands and then divorced.īy her mid-20s, Angelou was performing at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, where she shared billing with another future star, Phyllis Diller. She learned by reading, and listening.Īt age 9, she was writing poetry. Other times, she didn't speak at all: At age 7, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend and didn't speak for years. She was smart and fresh to the point of danger, packed off by her family to California after sassing a white store clerk in Arkansas. Louis and raised in Stamps, Ark., and San Francisco, moving back and forth between her parents and her grandmother. "The Caged Bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom."Īngelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. The book is her story at age 17, the age she gave birth to her son and became a single mother, CBS 2's Alice Gainer reported. She gained acclaim for her first book in 1970, her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,'' making her one of the first African-American women to write a best-seller. Martin Luther King Jr., and performed on stages around the world. The childhood victim of rape wrote a million-selling memoir, befriended Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. The young single mother who performed at strip clubs to earn a living later wrote and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. Tall and regal, with a deep, majestic voice, Angelou defied all probability and category, becoming one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream success as an author and thriving in virtually every artistic medium. She was the winner of three Grammy awards and directed and produced movies. kmLCN59Uef- Sesame Street May 28, 2014Īngelou was an author, poet, actress, songwriter, dancer, college professor, civil rights activist and historian. Thank you for all you've done, and for all the hugs. We're saddened by the passing of our friend Maya Angelou.
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