In celebration of April being Black Women’s History Month, National Poetry Month and the month of Dr. Angelou’s birthday, I would like to pay tribute to her by sharing some interesting facts about Dr. Angelou and how she broke down barriers as a black woman, trail blazed in the publishing industry and dedicated her life to activism.
As a black woman & activist:
- At the age of 14, she was awarded a scholarship to study dance/drama at the California Labor School; she dropped out of school and eventually became San Francisco's first female African-American cable car conductor.
- She never went to college but has received more than 50 honorary degrees.
- She was the first black woman director and producer for 20th Century Fox.
- Dr. Angelou’s screenplay, “Georgia, Georgia,” was the first original script by a black woman to be produced as a movie.
- She was an entrepreneur, to say the least. She recorded an album (“Miss Calypso”), acted in an Off- broadway show (“The Blacks”), directed her first feature film (“Down in the Delta”), taught at the University of Ghana’s School of Music and Drama and published two cooking books.
- She won three Grammy Awards and was twice nominated for a Tony award for acting: once for her Broadway debut in “Look Away” and again for her performance in “Roots.”
- She played an integral role in the Civil Rights movement and helped Dr. Martin Luther King as the Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
- She was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2011.
- What I admire most: Dr. Angelou was not one to shy away from speaking about her experiences, good and bad- the painful, traumatic ones she experienced as a young girl and then as a teen mother. She was quoted saying, “I wrote about my experiences because I thought too many people tell young folks, 'I never did anything wrong… I have no skeletons in my closet. In fact, I have no closet.' They lie like that and then young people find themselves in situations… they can’t forgive themselves and go on with their lives."
As a poet, author & educator:
- Dr. Angelou’s 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings- her first of seven autobiographies- made literary history as the first non-fiction bestseller by an African-American woman.
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was third on the American Library Association’s list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books from 1990–2000 and was sixth on the same list from 2000–2009.
- She was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie.
- She taught classes in philosophy, ethics, theology, theatre, writing, and science.
- She recited her poem, On the Pulse of Morning, at President Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration, making her the second poet to do so. Robert Frost was the first at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.
- In 1995, Dr. Angelou was praised for remaining on The New York Times' paperback nonfiction best-seller list for two years—the longest-running record in the chart's history.
- Fun fact: Dr. Angelou maintained the same writing process from the first book she wrote. She would stay in a local hotel room, have all of the pictures removed from the walls and hand write her stories on legal paper.
And last but not least, here’s one of my favorite poems, which I believe is always relevant regardless of time, place or person.
Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Image via AP/ Charles Dharapak
