By Gabriel Foster
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson (1928 – 2014). She was an American poet, memoirist, actress, and civil rights activist. As an accomplished poet she was known as the black woman’s poet laureate. As a memoirist, her autobiographies were highly praised and as an activist, she is often linked to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. as she knew them personally. It’s important to note that all her books became bestsellers and that she became one of the world’s most successful writers, authors, and poets. Her works are beloved internationally.
Maya first started writing poetry when she was young of age. She was introduced to the works of William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and Johnson Weldon Johnson, great poets in their own right. Maya wrote several books of poetry. Many of them became famous works the world over. Here are some examples of her work:
Excerpt: Caged Bird
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
Excerpt: Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Excerpt: Phenomenal Woman
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Maya received many awards and honors for her various works from literary organizations, universities, government agencies and other special interest groups. One of her honors boasted a Pulitzer Prize nomination for “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie”, one of her poetry books. 1973 brought her a Tony Award for her role in a play called “Look Away”. In 1994 she was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1995 (and again in 2002) she also received three Grammys for her spoken-word albums (spoken poetry). In the year 2000, she received the National Medal of Arts. In 2011, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 2021 saw the United States Mint announcement that Maya Angelou would be amongst the first set of women portrayed on the reverse side of the quarter for the American Women quarters series. Those coins were released to the public in 2022. In addition, Maya Angelou was awarded over fifty honorary degrees and that’s an accomplishment you can’t flip a coin on.
GF Poetic Wisdom | Maya Angelou was a poet for the ages. She lived a life colored in cold reality, yet her soul was painted with warm success written in the stars. ~ Gabriel Foster
