Maya Angelou

# Maya Angelou Poet, memoirist, civil rights activist, and one of the most powerful voices in American literature. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings broke ground on autobiography and trauma with a lyrical directness that had never quite existed before. She recited On the Pulse of Morning at Bill Clinton's inauguration. She collected honorary degrees from over fifty universities. She had been a fry cook, a dancer, a streetcar conductor, a journalist, and an actor. She brought all of it to the page, and the page could barely hold it.