She was also a journalist who worked in Africa, a historian, songwriter, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer and singer.Īnd as an activist, she was one of the Civil Rights Movement’s most prominent women, who worked with Martin Luther King Jr.

We know her well as a memoirist, essayist and poet, who authored several books of poetry, three books of essays, and a list of plays, movies, and television shows. The famed author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), the first of her seven autobiographies for which she became known, lived a long and storied life. RELATED: Why Maya Angelou Stopped Speaking – and How She Found a Voice that Changed the World Her lifetime of achievement was rewarded in 2000 when she received the National Medal of Arts, and in 2010 President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest honors. In 1993, she was invited to recite her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton’s inauguration, making her the first poet since 1961 to deliver an inaugural recitation. Maya Angelou was one of America’s most beloved and celebrated poets and authors, with dozens of awards and over 50 honorary degrees attesting to her inspirational role at the center of American life.

Maya angelou quotes about strength