Maya Angelou was a groundbreaking author and activist known for her best-selling memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and for reciting a poem at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. A polymath, Angelou worked as a dancer, singer, cook, and actress before her literary success. She was multilingual, a civil rights activist alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and a recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
She lived in Egypt and Ghana for several years, working as a writer and editor for international publications.
Angelou was the first African American and first woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco.
She was fluent in multiple languages, including French, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, and English.
Her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, became the first memoir by an African American woman to be a national bestseller.
Beyond writing, she had a successful career in film and television, acting in the series Roots and directing the film Down in the Delta.
In 2022, Maya Angelou became the first Black woman to be featured on a U.S. quarter.
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