Maya Angelou’s Crowning Achievements

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Considered to be one of the most consequential figures of the 20^th century, Maya Angelou had a diverse career spanning five decades. First, she was a singer and dancer, then as a journalist and civil rights activist, and later as a memoirist, poet, and screenwriter.

Here’s a look at five monumental achievements of the late Angelou, who died at age 86 in 2014.

She was a civil rights activist

Having traveled the world and having met with Malcolm X while living in Ghana, Angelou returned to the United States in 1964 to help the Black leader in his political efforts. However, soon after she arrived stateside, Malcolm X was assassinated.

Despite his death, Angelou continued working with the Civil Rights Movement and helped raise funds for Martin Luther King Jr. Unfortunately, the young artist found herself devastated once again when King was murdered on her birthday in 1968. It was during this time that novelist James Baldwin encouraged Angelou to write, and she began work on her groundbreaking memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was a New York Times bestseller for two years

Recalling her childhood experiences growing up in Arkansas to becoming a mother at 16, Angelou published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. It became an instant bestseller and stayed on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the next two years. Nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, it is considered her most famous work. In 2011, Time magazine ranked it as one of the most influential books of modern times.

She was the first Black woman to write a screenplay for a major movie release

In 1972, Angelou expanded her writing and musical talents by writing and scoring Georgia, Georgia, a Swedish-American drama that was later nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She went on to write for television, theatre, and eventually reached her goal of directing a movie with Down in the Delta in 1998.

She was the first female inaugural poet in U.S. presidential history

In 1993, Angelou recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” for President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. She became the first Black poet and first female poet to participate in a recitation for a U.S. president’s inauguration. The only inaugural poet who came before her was Robert Frost who recited “The Gift Outright” during President John F. Kennedy’s ceremony in 1961.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Having garnered numerous prestigious literary and humanitarian awards as well as over 50 honorary degrees, Angelou was bestowed the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. The award is distinguished as the highest civilian honor in the United States.

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