Getting to know Maya Angelou
Like the title of her iconic poem suggests, at 80 years old, still Maya Angelou rises.
Though her birthday was a month ago, on April 4, she will be honored Sunday at a fund-raiser and birthday gala, hosted by director Tyler Perry and actress Lynn Whitfield, at the Atlanta Symphony Hall. The money raised will go toward a new teen center at the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA in southwest Atlanta. That center will carry Angelou's name.
In eight decades, Angelou has left an indelible mark on arts, letters and, of course, pop culture. Here's a primer:
• People know her as Maya Angelou, but she was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Mo.
• Her autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," is considered her seminal work. While required reading in many high schools and colleges, between 1990 and 2000, it was No. 3 on the American Library Association's 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was No. 5, and the Harry Potter series was No. 7. "I Know Why" also was nominated for a National Book Award.
• A member of the civil rights movement, she was northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during her early 30s.
• While living and teaching at the University of Ghana in the early 1960s, she met and became a friend and confidant of Malcolm X. She and author James Baldwin were also fast friends, and he became a mentor to her.
• By the 1990s she was friend, confidant and mentor to Oprah Winfrey.
BY THE NUMBERS
5: The number of years she stopped speaking after she was raped at the age of 8 by her mother's boyfriend.
3: Number of Grammy Awards she has for spoken word performances.
1: Number of children she has. Her son is Guy Johnson, born when she was 16.
About the Author
Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning feature writer focusing on culture, arts and sometimes food, as they are expressed and experienced in Atlanta. She is a two-time James Beard Award finalist and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
