​"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

• POET, playwright, and author
• Born Marguerite Johnson
• Married a white man, even though interracial marriage was illegal at the time
• Studied dance with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey, and traveled throughout Europe in a production of the opera Porgy and Bess
• Noted for confronting race and gender head on, transforming these "limitations" into cause for celebration and pride
• Wrote a series of autobiographies, using her own struggle against poverty, abuse, racism, and sexism to illuminate the challenges Black women face
• Supported the civil rights movement by acting as the northern coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and working with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Malcolm X
• FIRST:
  • Black streetcar conductor in San Francisco 
  • Black woman director in Hollywood
  • Black woman to write a screenplay that was made into a movie
  • Woman AND first Black American to read her own work at a presidential inauguration
• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011
• Also authored several volumes of poetry, theater & television scripts, children's books, and cookbooks

Bibliography: Burling, Alexis. Women in Literature. North Mankato: Abdo Publishing, 2017. Print.
Braxton, Joanne M. and Courtney M. O'Reilly. "Angelou, Maya." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2008, 111.
Cavallo, Francesca and Elena Favilli. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women. Canada: Timbuktu Labs, Inc., 2016. Print.
Shen, Ann. Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2016. Print.

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