“All information belongs to everybody all the time.” Dr. Maya Angelou
An acclaimed American poet, storyteller, autobiographer, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, has died at the age of 86.
Throughout her career, Angelou received many awards, including more than 30 honourary degrees. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, which is the highest honour an American civilian can receive.
“What I really want to do is be a representative of my race — of the human race. I have a chance to show how kind we can be, how intelligent and generous we can be. I have a chance to teach and to love and to laugh. I know that when I’m finished doing what I’m sent here to do, I will be called home and I will go home without any fear.” Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the first of Angelou’s six autobiographies. It has faced controversy over its portrayal of race, sexual abuse and violence. Angelou’s use of fiction-writing techniques was innovative for its time and helped, in part, to complicate the genre’s relationship with truth and memory. Other volumes include Gather Together in My Name (1974), which begins when Angelou is seventeen and a new mother; Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry like Christmas, an account of her tour in Europe and Africa; The Heart of a Woman (1981), a description of Angelou’s acting and writing career in New York and her work for the civil rights movement; and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986), which recounts Angelou’s travels in West Africa. Poetry Foundation
