November 2016
Volume 1, Issue 1
BIRTH OF THE CAGED BIRD
aya Angelou was born as
Marguerite Johnson on
April 4th, 1928, in St.
Louis, Missouri and
raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou became one of the
most renowned and influential voices
of our time. With over 50 honorary
doctorate degrees Dr. Maya Angelou
became a celebrated poet, memoirist,
educator, dramatist, producer, actress,
historian, filmmaker, and civil rights
activist.
In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Stamps, Arkansas represented the American
south and its practice of brutality and
racial discrimination. Mrs. Annie
Henderson began a business of selling
hot meals to workers and eventually
built the Johnson With living quarters
behind the store, the store was also her
family home. Maya Angelou lived here
with her beloved brother Bailey John-
son and her crippled Uncle Willie. As a
teenager, Dr. Angelou’s love for the
arts won her a scholarship to study
dance and drama at San Francisco’s
Labor School. At 14, she dropped out
to become San Francisco’s first African
-American female cable car conductor.
She later finished high school, giving
birth to her son, Guy, a few weeks after
graduation. As a young single mother,
she supported her son by working as a
waitress and cook, however her passion for music, dance, performance,
and poetry would soon take center
stage. Maya Angelou’s life would continue to mirror the
American landscape paving the way
for a first hand experience with racism,
single parenting, over-coming poverty,
seeking higher education, creating
wealth, living through and participating in the civil rights movement. In
later years she would embrace popular