Today I’m starting a new series about men and women who use their art to promote racial equality. Please comment below any recommendations for next month’s biography. I will do my best to honor your request.
Maya Angelou was born in April 1928. in Saint Louis, Missouri. Her childhood wasn’t easy. Her parents divorced when she was a toddler, she was raised by her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, and she spent almost five years without talking after her mother’s boyfriend assaulted her when she was eight.
Her acting career took off in the mid-fifties and she continued acting for two decades. She was also an award-winning poet, who published 36 books. Angelou made history when her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings became the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman.
Angelou is also known for her part in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. She was part of the “Revolutionist Returnees” and helped form the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
Quotes
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.“
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
“All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike.”
Maya Angelou used her art to promote racial equality and you can too! But don’t stop there. Here are five petitions to get involved in.
- Justice for Breonna Taylor Petition
- Justice for Elijah McClain Petition
- Petition to charge the cops who shot Jacob Blake
- Justice for Daniel Prude Petition
Thanks for reading, friends!
ElizabethAnne Andrews says
P. S. Do you have a favorite Maya Angelou quote? Who would you like to read about next month? Let me know in the comments section. <3