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Born as Marguerite Ann Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri to Vivian and Baily Baxter Johnson
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Recorded her first album as a singer titled "Calypso Lady."
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She became the Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by request of MLK
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Moved to New York where she joined the Harlem Writers Guild to experiment more with song lyrics, short stories, and sketches.
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Moved to Ghana where she taught at the University of Ghana School of Music and Drama where she also wrote for The Ghanian Times and was an editor for The African View
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Worked with Malcolm X and the Organization of African American Unity advocating for racial equality and justice
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is published and available to the public based on her life.
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Appointed to the Bicentennial Commission by Gerald Ford, President at the time.
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Became the University of Wake Forest's first Reynold's professor of American studies
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Recites her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration, making her the first poet to speak at an inauguration since Robert Frost.
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Won Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album for "On the Pulse of Morning"
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Won same award for her album "On the Pulse of Morning"
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Won Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album with "A Song Flung Up to Heaven"."
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President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom
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She dies at her home in Winston Salem