Angelou chose not to celebrate her birthday for years after Dr.
King called upon Angelou to spearhead a march in 1968, but as fate would have it, he was assassinated on March 4th, the day of her 40th birthday. Malcolm was murdered not long after Angelou joined him in his civil rights efforts.ġ5) Dr. She met Malcolm X (pictured) while he visited Ghana and decided to accompany him back to the States to help him build his expanding Organization of Afro-American Unity. While in Accra, Angelou worked as an administrator at the University of Ghana and freelanced for various publications there.ġ4) The year 1965 brought about turbulent changes as far as civil rights was concerned in the United States and Angelou was front and center. The political move earned Angelou the title of SCLC’s northern coordinator.ġ2) Angelou made the decision to relocate to Cairo, Egypt, in 1961, where she took on a job as an associate editor for a weekly English language newspaper.ġ3) In 1962, Angelou moved to Accra, Ghana, where she wound up living there five years while Guy, a college student, recuperated from a very serious auto accident. speak at a civil rights gathering, she and Killens organized Cabaret for Freedom to benefit the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Killens, who was the founding chairman of the Harlem Writers Guild, actually prodded Angelou to pursue writing and join the guild, where she hobnobbed with such luminaries as Paule Marshall, John Henrik Clarke, and Rosa Guy.ġ1) After hearing civil rights icon Dr. Killens, the spiritual Father of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, who inspired a subsequent generation of African Americans through writings charged with strong social and political messages. She even met and teamed up with dance legend Alvin Ailey to form the modern dance performing duo of “ Al and Rita.” The pair never hit it big, so they decided to go their separate ways.ĩ) In 1957, Angelou actually recorded an album, “Miss Calypso.” Two years later, she performed in an off-Broadway review that inspired the film “Calypso Heat Wave,” where she sang and performed her own compositions.ġ0) In 1959, Angelou met novelist James O. She wound up securing a job as San Francisco’s firstAfrican-American female cable car conductor.Ħ) After giving high school another try, Angelou got pregnantand graduated a few weeks before giving birth to her only child, Guy.ħ) Despite all of the racial taboos of the time, Angelou dared to marry Greek sailor Enistasious”Tosh” Angelos in 1951, but after four years, the union faded into black.Ĩ) When Angelou began her nightclub career as a calypso singer and dancer around San Francisco, she dropped her birth name and took on the name Maya Angelou. Angelou once stated that the period of silence actually allowed her to absorb her surroundings more intensely.ĥ) Angelou was just a teen when she dropped out of high school. There are rumors that Angelou’s uncles sought revenge.Ĥ) The literary icon gives her high school teacher Bertha Flowers credit for helping her to speak again after five years of silence and for igniting her interest in literature. Four days after Freeman’s release, he was found dead - apparently murdered but it was never proven.
Freeman was arrested but served only one day in jail for what he did to Angelou. Angelou told Bailey what had taken place and he told the family. Angelou was actually a descendant from the Mende people of Sierra Leone of West Africa.ģ) After being sexually abused and raped by her mother’s boyfriend, Freeman, the shock made Maya mute and she and Bailey Jr. See Also: President Donald Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims Could Lead To More Voter Suppressionġ) Maya Angelou’s actual name was Marguerite Ann Johnson and her brother, Bailey Jr., actually nicknamed her “Maya.”Ģ) The very regal Ms. Here are must-known facts about the icon. There has actually been debates about calling someone who is much older you Mr.