Last Updated on August 9, 2024
“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.”
This is one of the most memorable quotes by Maya Angelou. However, it’s only part of the vast collection of motivational sayings by ‘the black woman’s poet laureate,’ as she came to be known.
But while the internet teems with Maya Angelou quotes, not much is known about the author’s personal life and accomplishments. And that’s where we come in.
In this article, we present the little-known facts about one of the world’s greatest authors.
Maya Angelou’s Personal Information
1. Maya Angelou was not her real name. She was born Marguerite Annie Johnson and “Maya Angelou” was simply her stage name. She got the “Maya” part of the name from her brother Bailey Jr. as a variant of “My” or “Mya Sister,” and the “Angelou” part from her marriage to Tosh Angelos.
2. Angelou held a series of odd jobs during her childhood to make ends meet. They include working as a fry cook, nightclub performer, and sex worker.
3. Maya Angelou studied at Lafayette County Training School and California Labor School.
4. Angelou didn’t have a university degree. However, she preferred to be called ‘Dr. Angelou’ by people outside her inner circles.
5. Maya Angelou died an octogenarian. She was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., and died on May 28, 2014 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. She was 86 years old at the time of her death.
Maya Angelou’s Family
6. Maya Angelou’s parents were Bailey Johnson and Vivian Baxter Johnson. Her father worked as a doorman and navy dietitian, whereas her mother was a nurse and card dealer.
7. Maya Angelou had only one blood sibling, an elder brother named Bailey Jr. He died in 2000 after suffering a series of strokes.
8. Angelou’s parents divorced when she was only three years old.
9. Angelou was married twice. First to Greek electrician Tosh Angelos (from 1951 until their divorce in 1954) and then to Paul du Feu (from 1974 until their divorce in 1983).
10. Maya Angelou gave birth to her son and only child Guy Johnson (birth name Clyde) at the age of seventeen years.
11. Like his mother, Guy Johnson also published numerous books. He has a collection of over 20 books to his name, including ‘Standing at the Scratch Line’ and ‘Echoes of a Distant Summer.’
12. Maya Angelou’s grandmother’s business surprisingly flourished at the height of the Great Depression and World War II.
13. Angelou’s mother Vivian Baxter was an instrumental force in her success.
14. Baxter disapproved of Maya Angelou’s interracial marriage to Tosh Angelos. However, Maya went on and married Tosh against her mom’s will.
15. Maya’s ancestors were from West and Central Africa. A 2008 DNA test revealed that Angelou was 55% West African and 45% Congo-Angolan.
Maya Angelou’s Career and Achievements
16. Maya Angelou’s professional career spanned over six decades.
17. Maya Angelou held numerous titles. She’s best known for being a memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. However, Angelou was also an actress, filmmaker, television producer, editor, musician, and dancer.
18. Angelou published over twenty books and at least 170 poems. The books include seven autobiographies and three essay books.
19. In the entertainment industry, Maya Angelou is credited for writing, producing, directing, and appearing in numerous plays, movies, and/or television shows. She also lent her voice to several narrations and television documentaries.
20. ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ is considered Angelou’s most famous memoirs. The book was published in 1969 and chronicles Maya’s struggles until 1944, when she was 17 years old.
21. ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ featured on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years in a row.
22. In 2011, Time magazine ranked ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ among its list of the most influential books of modern times.
23. Maya Angelou was an influential force during the Civil Rights Movement. She worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
24. Maya Angelou also collaborated with Nelson Mandela. When the former South African president died in December 2013, Angelou recited an emotional tribute to him in a video that quickly garnered thousands of YouTube views.
25. Angelou served as the editor of ‘The Arab Observer,’ a Middle East English-language news outlet that was in publication from 1960 to 1966.
26. Maya Angelou was an avid chef too. She has two cookbooks to her name. They include ‘Hallelujah! The Welcome Table’ and ‘Great Food, All Day Long.’
27. Maya Angelou began her line of greeting cards in 2000. She was aged 72 then.
28. Maya Angelou received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2011. She wholeheartedly supported the Obama Administration despite publicly endorsing Hillary Clinton over Obama during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
29. Angelou also received the “Women Who Move the Nation” award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO).
30. Although she gained worldwide fame as a poet, Maya Angelou kicked off her artistic career as a dancer before venturing into poetry.
31. Maya became a professional dancer after marrying Greek electrician Tosh Angelos.
32. American novelist John Oliver Killens inspired Maya Angelou to write. This was after the duo met in 1959.
33. Maya Angelou was once a member of Harlem Writers Guild, which is one of the oldest organizations of black writers in America. During her stint at Harlem, Angelou worked closely with renowned authors like Rosa Guy, John Henrik Clarke, Paule Marshall, and Julian Mayfield.
34. To concentrate on her literary work, Angelou often rented out a hotel room near her home whenever she needed to write. She also had any furniture or decorations removed from the room so she could concentrate further on her writing.
35. At the peak of her career, Maya Angelou made over 80 lectures annually on the lecture circuit. Her career as a motivational speaker lasted close to two decades.
36. As at the time of her death, Maya Angelou had a net worth of $10 million. The bulk of her wealth came from book royalties and speaking engagements.
Maya Angelou Firsts
37. Maya Angelou was the first black woman to work as a cable car conductor in San Francisco. She served in that role as a teenager during a period that she briefly dropped out of the California Labor School.
38. Maya Angelou was the first female poet and the second poet in history to recite her work at a presidential inauguration. She accomplished that feat by lending her voice to President Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration. Angelou recited “On the Pulse of Morning,” her other most notable work, which earned her a Grammy Award for “Best Spoken Word Album.” The first poet to perform at a presidential inauguration was Robert Frost. Frost performed during President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961.
39. Angelou became the first Black woman to be featured on a United States quarter coin.
40. Maya Angelou’s best-selling book ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ is the first book that Rihanna read when she was still a teenager. When Angelou died in 2014, Rihanna was one of the notable celebrities who paid tribute to her. In her emotional tribute, the award-winning musician wrote “She made us feel so safe, safe enough to trust her wisdom! Wisdom one can usually only acquire through experience.”
41. Maya Angelou was the first black woman to write for a screenplay. She accomplished that feat in the 1972 Swedish-American drama film ‘Georgia, Georgia.
Maya Angelou Preferences
42. Maya Angelou reportedly loved sherry and drank it while writing her poems.
43. Uggs were Maya Angelou’s favorite clothing item.
44. Angelou had a thing for the Hebrew National hotdog.
45. Maya Angelou was an avid country music lover. Among her favorite musicians were Blake Shelton, Carrie Underworld, Jennifer Nettles, Montgomery Gentry, and Sugarland.
46. Angelou also had film and television preferences. She was reportedly a fan of ‘Law & Order.’
Maya Angelou Influences
47. Nelson Mandela recited Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” on his inauguration as the first president of South Africa.
48. According to reports, when Nelson Mandela was still in prison, he watched the film adaptation of Angelou’s memoir ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.’
49. American rapper Kanye West has often compared himself to Maya Angelou. West argues that they’re both true poets. Well, that assertion is certainly open to debate, especially considering that the rapper has since lost his mojo.
50. Maya Angelou was an advisor and mentor of renowned television host Oprah Winfrey. The duo became close after meeting in the 1970s when Oprah was still working as a reporter.
51. Legendary cricket player Serena Williams has cited Maya Angelou as her favorite poet.
52. Rapper Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, wrote a letter to Angelou thanking her for giving advice to her son. This was after Maya and Tupac met while working on the 1993 film “Poetic Justice,” which featured the rapper and singer Janet Jackson.
53. Maya Angelou’s poems and other literary works have been incorporated into the syllabi of numerous schools worldwide.
54. Maya Angelou is widely considered the de facto spokesperson of Black people, particularly Black women.
Maya Angelou in Popular Culture
55. Maya Angelo appeared on ‘Sesame Street.’ She’s portrayed playing a name game that uses words that only start with the letter “N.”
56. Maya Angelou was disappointed that one of her poems appeared in an explicit rap song by rapper Common.
57. ‘Maya Angelou and Still I Rise’ is the first feature documentary about Maya Angelou. The documentary was directed by Rita Coburn and Bob Hercules. It starts Cicely Tyson, Guy Johnson, and Diahann Carroll.
Other Fun Maya Angelou Facts
58. Maya Angelou was mute for five years in her youth. How did this happen? During her childhood, Angelou was sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend, a man named Freeman. The man was later charged and convicted for the offenses but would only serve one day in jail.
However, four days after his surprising release from prison, Freeman was murdered by unknown assailants who were widely believed to be Angelou’s close family members. Maya was overwhelmed by guilt. She blamed herself for Freeman’s death and refused to speak for the next five years. She would later regain her voice, thanks to her involvement in literature.
59. Maya Angelou developed her passion for writing and an astounding memory during the 5-year period she was mute.
60. Renowned activist Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on Maya Angelou’s 40th birthday. The incident left her devastated.
61. Angelou’s first trip to Europe was courtesy of her role in the play ‘Porgy and Bess.’
62. Angelou spoke six languages, albeit with varying levels of fluency. They include English, French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, and Fante. Fante is a dialect of Akan native to Ghana.
63. Maya Angelou had a way with words. Well, you probably already know this. But one striking instance was when Maya’s Random House editor disapproved of her decision to lend her words to a line of cards, pillows, and bookends. According to the editor, this was too commercial and would denigrate Angelou’s reputation. In response, Maya Angelou wrote “if I’m America’s poet, or one of them, then I want to be in people’s hands…people who would never buy a book.”
64. Despite being one of the world’s most inspirational personalities, Maya Angelou faced criticism from multiple quarters. Some of Maya’s works have been banned from US libraries on the grounds that they show resentment towards white people.
65. Maya Angelou is one of the most banned authors in the United States. Besides having her works pulled from libraries, her books have also been discontinued from the reading lists of various schools. Most educationists cite some of Angelou’s books as inappropriate for young readers and intended to advocate “excessive liberalism.”
Wrap Up
Maya Angelou may have passed on close to a decade ago. But her work and legacy lives on.
Angelou left her prints in the sands of time and will be remembered as one of the world’s most accomplished poets. Her unbridled quest for social justice earned her friends and critics in equal measure.
And although we’ll never hear from her again, Angelou remains an inspiration to millions of people worldwide.
