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Angelou, Maya, 1928-,
African-American writer and performer, b. St. Louis, Mo. as Marguerite
Johnson. She toured Europe and Africa in the musical Porgy and Bess
(1954-55), then sang in New York City nightclubs, joined the Harlem Writers
Guild, and took part in several off-Broadway productions, including Genet's
The Blacks and her own Cabaret for Freedom (1960). During the
1960s she was active in the African-American political movement; she
subsequently spent several years in Ghana as editor of the African
Review. Her six autobiographical volumes (1970-2002), beginning with
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, have generally been well-received. She
has also published several volumes of poetry, including And I Still Rise
(1987). Angelou read her poem On the Pulse of Morning at the inauguration of
President Clinton in 1993.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/perl/print_book.pl?ID=72039 |