Maya Angelou: African American Civil Rights Poet

Nikki Giovanni is marked down as one of the 25 most influential poets in history. She is wise, strong, and a fierce black woman who used her experiences with segregation to pilot her success. Even though she isn’t currently well known by the youth, she impacted the entire nation through her poetry, books, music and attitude throughout the black revolution. Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. was born on June,7 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis

By the time teen Maya Angelou was sixteen years old, she became pregnant with a baby boy, she named, Guy Johnson. Once Maya Angelou was no longer a young girl she was determined to travel outside of United States of America, making a huge difference and transitioning from girl to woman. Then finally Maya Angelou became a female African American Activist Civil Rights Leader who was famous for being a writer, singer, actress, author, director, stage and screen performer, also most well-known poet. Throughout her career, Angelou has earned several awards and accomplished many accomplishments, including receiving a Grammy award. Her best known art work was entitled, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

In her early years, Maya faced numerous challenges, including rape, abandonment, and self-discovery. Maya overcomes obstacles in her life by leveraging her relationships with others. 1942-Angelou exited school to become San Francisco's most memorable African-American female vehicle guide. 1954 through 1955-Angelou visited Europe with a creation of the show "Porgy and Bess." 1957-Recorded her most memorable collection, "Calypso

Some of the awards that she has been nominated for and has even received include: Chubb Fellowship given by Yale University, Coretta Scott King Honor for African-American authors of books for young people, Tony Award Nomination for her role in Broadway play Look Away, Matrix Award given by New York Women in Communication, and many others. Besides creating many inspiring poems Angelou also wrote many books in her time. One of her most known books is a memoir about her childhood called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Maya Angelou has been an influential woman throughout her life; she left her mark in history and literature, and she celebrated the experience of being black in the US. The most breathtaking of all her achievements is the construction of her own personality. As she stated once, “my mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”. Remembering her, it is important to highlight her commitment with equality; it was a fight not only for her own life, for women and for Afro-American people, but also for peace and justice all over the world.

In “Graduation”, Maya Angelou talks about her graduation experience in her class of 1940. Her essay is mostly based on how African Americans were treated back then. Angelou states that African American schools were ruled under white power. She said that it didn’t matter whether they were smart or not the boys were sent to work and women were to take care of the home duties. Angelou states that during her graduation ceremony white man came to her school to tell them how good the white schools were doing and what new material they were getting and to congratulate the few black athletes that were going to play football.

The leader I chose is Anne Frank. She was a teenage writer who was journaling all of her experiences during the Holocaust while hiding. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany on June 12, 1929. Anne went to school at Montessori Amsterdam. She lived in an Annex for safety from the Nazis during the Holocaust.

When thinking of a historical figure, many imagine a president, king, or general that lead a country to greatness, but never realized some could be the ones who influence the minds of society. Although not thought of as anything, writers and poets hold the key to shaping the society’s mindset without even knowing it. Being a civil rights activist, social activist, and role model for women makes Maya Angelou a historical figure who has made a huge impact in American society and in American history. Born poor and black, she was a childhood victim of rape, shamed into silence. She was a young single mother who had to work at strip clubs for a living.

Maya Angelou was a strong African-American women who made an influential impact on the Civil Rights Movement, in bother her actions, and her literature. Her life experiences and courage helped others, and made her work influential. During Maya’s early life, she experienced many hardships that shaped her into the person many remember her as. Born on April 4, 1928, she only lived in St. Louis, MO for three years before her parents got divorced, and Maya, along with her mother and brother, moved in with her grandparents in Arkansas. At the age of eight, raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Maya learned the power that words possess.

a. Dance played a large role in the life of Maya Angelou. When she was young she moved to New York City for one year to study dance with Pearl Primus a famous Trinidadian dancer which later influenced her to work as a calypso dancer when she returned to San

Life is a journey that is challenging for many people. As a result, many do not live up to their full potential. Nevertheless, there are always few distinguished people in every generation who master the art of living better than everyone else. Such individuals emerge as icons of the society and leave phenomenal legacies. Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Maya Angelou are outstanding souls who made their communities and the world a better place.

His poem Sympathy is just one example of how he felt trapped like a caged bird in his life. Even though the Civil War was over, African Americans still did not have as many privileges and opportunities as most White people had. Most of Dunbar’s writing showed his perspective of life and the struggles that came with it. Maya Angelou was born in 1928 and suffered a hard childhood that later on affected her writing. When she was eight years old, Maya was sexually abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend.

Angelou’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and her achievements as an activist were remarkable. While these achievements seem to be enough to last a lifetime, the Civil Rights Movement was only the beginning for Angelou. Angelou worked as an outspoken Civil Rights activist during the movement. But even after the Civil Rights Movement had ended, she continued to be a voice of humanity, speaking out against anything that harmed the human spirit. Angelou moved on to influence American society as a whole, from the 1970’s to the day she died, May 28, 2014.

The leader I chose was Martin Luther King. He fought for equal rights. The I have a dream Speech reaffirmed the commitment to non-violent resistance, standing one’s ground for one’s God-given rights, the basis for human dignity and strength for all, regardless of race, religion, or color. Martin Luther King displays charismatic leadership. Charismatic leadership has generally been defined in terms of the effects the leader has on followers, or in terms of the relationship between leaders and followers.