Maya Angelou Research Paper

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.

In “Champion of the World”, Maya Angelou tells a story of her childhood where the success of one man changed the future of her entire race. Maya Angelou, an African American woman, took a stand against racial segregation in form of her writing and words. She experienced many of the hardships that the people of her race were going through, and she knew it needed to stop.

The leader I choose was Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou was an African American Civil Rights activist, Author, & poet who issued 7 autobiographies 3 essay books and various poetry books, and had done a number of plays. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928 and recently died on May 28, 2014. Some time during World War 2 Maya won a Scholarship to study acting and dance at the California Labor School, in San Francisco, California. At the time Maya became the first African American female cable car conductor(A job she had for a short amount of time). Other than that she was An author, poet , screenwriter, etc.

On April 4th of 1928 Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. She was given the name “Maya” by her brother, Bailey. Both Maya and Bailey were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas after her parents divorced.

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.

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. She was a multi-talented person as Toni Morrison, a friend and contemporary of Angelou, expressed: “She had 19 talents and used 10. And she was a real original.” (qtd, in Sherwell, 2014).

Julia Alvarez was born on March 27, 1950 in New York City but her parents were from the Dominican Republic so they moved back when she was just three months old with her and her other

a. Maya Angelou was an avid writer, speaker, activist and teacher. As a result of the many hardships that she suffered while growing up as a poor black woman in the south she has used her own experiences as the subject matter of her written work. In doing this she effectively shows how she was able to overcome her personal obstacles. Her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) tells the story of her life and how she overcame and moved forward triumphantly in spite of her circumstances. She asks her readers to rise above their defeats, to not allow anyone to stop their dreams. In demonstrating how she succeeded she has been a role model for women of all cultures and races. The “Phenomenal Women” poem is a celebration

She did well in school with straight A’s until she became pregnant at the age of fifteen with her first child Janney 'Chiquis' Marin Rivera which she supported by selling CDs at flea markets. Her parents booted her out of their house when she was pregnant with her first child and she later Married José Trinidad Marín following the birth of their first child Chiquis in 1985 and have two further children named Jacqueline and Michael before divorcing in 1992 due to domestic abuse. Re-married in 1997 to Juan López, with whom she had two children named Jenicka and Johnny, which she divorced in 2003 and married baseball star Esteban Loaiza in 2010, but they were going through divorce proceedings at the time of Jenni's death in 2012. Throughout her marriages she continued her career, by the time of her death she had produced 15 gold, 15 platinum and 5 double-platinum records but put her family above her

Julia Alvarez was born on March 27, 1950 in New York. Alvarez’s parents met in the United States, where

Mia Hamm was born on March 17, 1972 in Selma, Arizona. She is one of of six children who are kids of an Air Force Pilot so they had to move a total of seven times as a kid. Mia's parents adopted a child named Garrett and he sadly died of a rare blood disease called aplastic anemia. Mia started a foundation called the Mia Hamm Foundation because of her brother. Mia is also the best soccer player in history. She played professional soccer for 17 years and she won two Olympic medals and she held the

Racism, it’s a “touchy” subject for most people. We were all born in a world where people still are unable to treat people of a different ethnicity with respect and kindness. In the novel I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, written by Maya Angelou, you are taken through the eyes of the well known civil rights activist Maya Angelou. Her original name was Marguerite Anne Johnson, and was born April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She got the name Maya because her brother couldn’t pronounce when he was little. At the age of three, Maya’s parents got a divorce and they were sent to live with their Grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. During her teenage years she was sent to live with her mother in Vivian Baxter, California. Maya began her career as

Life hardships, though unbearable, shape a person’s character. They shape the dreams, goals and passions of a person. To some people, those hardships become a driving force. This is what became the case for Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Maya Angelou recalls the first seventeen years of her life, discussing her unsettling childhood in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya and Bailey were sent from California to the segregated South to live with their grandmother, Momma. At the age of eight, Maya went to stay with her mother in St. Louis, where she was sexually abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. Maya confronts these traumatic events of her childhood and explores the evolution of her own strong identity. Her individual and cultural feelings of displacement, caused by these incidents of sexual abuse, are mediated through her love for literature. In this research paper I will be analyzing if the sexual abuse, molestation, and/or rape Maya

The human connection to birds is a fascinating thing that is often depicted in stories. Humans want to be free like birds and fly away from the troubles that are present in their life. Birds reflect the image of freedom in life, so it’s no wonder that the Bald Eagle is the emblem of the United States; a country built on the principles of freedom and equality. Two famous poets by the names of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou used the image of the bird to describe how they felt in their own life. Even though Dunbar wrote in the Reconstruction Era and Angelou wrote around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, their ideas were almost identical. Angelou and Dunbar show similarities when they describe feeling trapped like caged birds, but their portrayal of the birds contrast in their actions