Early Life and Success
During WWII Maya moved to San Francisco and won a scholarship to study dance and acting at the California Labor School. In 1994 at age 16 she became mother to son, Guy. This meant that Angelou had to take on various jobs to help sustain her family, in 1952 she married Anastasios Angelopulos, a Greek sailor. From then on she began to travel and perform in many productions. After returning to the United States a friend of Maya convinced her to write about her experiences. From there was the birth of one of her greatest works, “ I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”. This work was awarded first nonfiction best-seller by an African American woman. This work also made Angelou known internationally. From there Maya Angelou began her career as a writer, publishing various works. She wrote many autobiographies, poems, novels,etc. She received two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work(nonfiction) category in both 2005 and 2009. Angelou said,”Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” Just like that Maya Angelou began her journey in being the voice of not only her generation but many after.