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She was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
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Due to her parents' divorce, she moved to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.
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She was raped as a child by her mothers boyfriend and after he died she didn't speak for 5 years because she felt her voice killed the man and she only talked to her brother Bailey.
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She began taking dance lessons which further led her to audition for professional theatre.
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She graduated from Mission High School and later went on to California Labor School.
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3 weeks after she graduated high school she gave birth to a baby boy named Clyde (who later changed his name to guy Johnson).
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She married Tosh Angelos who was an electrician in the US Navy.
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She got divorced from Tosh Angelos.
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Her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was released and detailed her life up until she was 17.
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The film Georgia Georgia came out which she wrote. It was the first ever written by an African American to be filmed and she was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
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Won a grammy award for the album Phenomenal Women.
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She was awarded the presidential medal of arts.
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She passed away in her Winston, Salem home.