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Birthdate and Birthplace
Marguerite Johnson, later to be called Maya Angelou, was born in Saint Louis, Missouri to Bailey and Vivian Johnson. -
Age 3
Angelou's parent's marriage ended and her and her brothers were sent to live with their father's mother in Stamps, Arkansas. -
Age 7
Angelou returned to her mother in Saint Louis and was raped and molested by her mother's boyfriend. As vengeance for the sexual assault, Angelou's uncle killed the boyfriend. -
Period: to
Age 7-12
Due to being sexually assaulted and her attacker being killed by the hands of a family member, Angelou became mute for the next 5 1/2 years. -
Age 14
Angelou dropped out of high school to become San Francisco's first African American female cable car conductor. Just before dropping out, a teacher helped Angelou to begin to talk again and began to encourage Angelou's interest in literature. -
Age 15
Maya returned back to school and later graduated. -
Age 16
Maya gave birth to her son, Guy. She left home and became a waitress to support her son. -
Age 24
Angelou married a Greek Sailor named Tosh Angelous. She used his surname to create her stage name when she became a nightclub singer. The marriage ended soon. -
Age 29
Angelou released her first album, Miss Calypso. -
Age 30
Angelou began to dive into her poetry; moving to New York and becoming a part of the Harlem Writers Guild. -
Age 31
Angelou became involved with Civil Rights Activists. -
1959
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. requested that Angelou become the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. -
Age 32
Met the South African Civil Rights Activist, Vusumzi Make, and moved to Cairo, Egypt with him and her son, Guy. Angelou worked as the editor of the Arab Observer. -
Age 34
Angelou returned to America at the request of Malcolm X to build his group, the Organization of African American Unity. -
Age 40
Malcolm X is assassinated and Angelou began her work on her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. -
Age 42
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is published. -
Age 42
Receives the Chubb Fellowship Award at Yale University. -
Age 44
Receives the Pulitzer Prize Nomination for "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die" -
Age 45
Angelou marries Paul du Feu and moves to California with him and her son to work on writing and acting. -
Age 47
Appointed to the Bicentennial Commission by President Gerald Ford -
Age 48
Receives the Ladies' Home Journal Award; "Women of the Year in Communication" -
Age 49
Receives the Golden Eagle Award, "Afro-American in the Arts" -
Age 53
Divorces Paul du Feu -
Age 56
Met Oprah Winfrey and became her friend and mentor. -
Age 58
Receives the Fulbright Program 40th Anniversary Distinguished Lecturer award -
Age 63
Receives the Langston Hughes Medal -
Age 65
Angelou reads her poem " On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. -
Age 67
Recites poem "From a Black Woman to a Black Man" at the Million Man March on Washington -
Age 68
Receives the King Jr. Legacy Association National Award -
Age 72
Receives the National Medal of Arts -
Age 77
NAACP Image in Outstanding Literary Work -
Age 78
Receives the Mother Teresa Award -
Age 80
Became the first recipient of Hope for Peace and Justice- Voice of Peace Award -
Age 80
2nd time receiving the NAACP Image in Outstanding Literary Work -
Age 83
Maya Angelou is awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama -
Death-- Age 86
Passes away at her home in North Carolina -
Final Thoughts and Impact
Maya Angelou was one the most influential voices of her time, giving and literary and political voice to African-American women. She used her poetry as an outlet to reach individuals of all ethnicity and sex and broaden their perspective of what it was like to be an African-American women. Even today she gives a voice to young, aspiring women and continues to me a role model for them all.
