Maya Angelou By emilieabel Apr 4, 1928 Birth 1950 expanded her talents to singer and actress 1960 MLK requested Maya led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1960 Lived in Cairo 1969 Published I know why the caged birds sing 1977 appointed to Presidential Commission for International Women’s Year 1980 Worked with Oprah Winfrey in the Civil Rights Movement 1982 Reynolds Professor of American Studies At Wake Forest 1991 Earned Langston Hughes Medal 1993 Delivered her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” and President Bill Clinton’s inauguration 1993 Worked with Bill Clinton in the Civil Rights Movement 2000 Earned National Medal of Arts 2011 Earned Presidential Medal of Freedom