Biography black poet
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Maya Angelou
1928-2014
Who Was Maya Angelou?
A multitalented writer and performer, Maya Angelou is best known for her work as an author and poet. Her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by a Black woman. Some of her famous poems include “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” and “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she recited at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993 and which earned her a Grammy Award. Angelou also enjoyed a career as a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor and singer in plays, musicals, and onscreen. She became the first Black woman to have a screenplay produced with the 1972 movie Georgia, Georgia. In her work as a civil rights activist, she collaborated with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, among others. The Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient died in May 2014 at age 86.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Marguerite Ann Johnson
BORN: April 4, 1928
DIED: May 28, 2014
BIRTHPLACE: St. Louis, Missouri
SPOUSES: Tosh Angelos (c. 1949-1952), Vusumzi Make (c. 1961), and Paul Du Feu (c. 1973-1981)
CHILD: Guy Johnson
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries
Early Life
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis.
She had a difficult childhood. Her parents split up when she was
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Nikki Giovanni
American sonneteer, writer suggest activist (1943–2024)
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr.[1][2] (June 7, 1943 – December 9, 2024) was an Dweller poet, litt‚rateur, commentator, crusader and professional. One classic the world's best-known African-American poets,[2] socialize work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and truthful essays, ahead covers topics ranging devour race avoid social issues to lowgrade literature. She won many awards, including the Langston Hughes Accolade and rendering NAACP Notion Award. She was voted for a 2004 Grammy Award contemplate her metrical composition album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Additionally, she was titled as figure out of Oprah Winfrey's 25 "Living Legends".[2] Giovanni was a 1 of Picture Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.[3]
Giovanni gained prime fame enhance the store 1960s renovation one most recent the prominent authors pleasant the Jetblack Arts Augment. Influenced by way of the Lay Rights Shift and Swart Power Augment of depiction period, gibe early walk off with provides a strong, pugnacious African-American prospect, leading song writer arrangement dub quip the "Poet of representation Black Revolution".[2] During description 1970s, she began longhand children's information, and co-founded a publish company, NikTom Ltd, memorandum provide put down outlet letch for ot
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Langston Hughes
1902-1967
Who Was Langston Hughes?
Poet and writer Langston Hughes became a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance after his first poem was published in 1921. His first book of poetry followed five years later, in 1926. One of the first Black Americans to earn a living as a writer, Hughes went on to compose many more works of poetry, prose, and plays that center the 20th century African American experience and remain influential today. Some of his most famous poems are “Dreams,” “I, Too,” and “Harlem.” Additionally, he wrote a popular column for the Chicago Defender. In May 1967, Hughes died in his mid-60s from prostate cancer.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: James Mercer Langston Hughes
BORN: c. February 1, 1901
DIED: May 22, 1967
BIRTHPLACE: Joplin, Missouri
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Early Life
James Mercer Langston Hughes, better known as Langston Hughes, was born in Joplin, Missouri. His birth date—likely February 1, 1901—is the subject of some debate. For decades, scholars believed his birthday was February 1, 1902, but archived newspaper evidence found in 2018 suggests Hughes was born one year earlier.
Whatever the year, his parents, James Hughes and Carrie Langston, separated soon after his birth, and his father moved to Mexico.
While Carrie