Maya Angelou has dedicated her life to end prejudices faced by many black females in the 20th century. As an author, poet, and entertainer, she is known best for her strong portrayal of African-American women. Some of her most outstanding work is the series of autobiographies that she wrote telling about her childhood. Her work has contributed immensely to Americans everywhere. She has also broken many barriers for black women in writing, entertainment, and in film making. Maya Angelou is definitely a positive role model to people everywhere.
Maya Angelou has made many contributions through her poetry, writing, ongwriting, acting, and film directing. She has written a series of autobiographical books focusing on her childhood until the birth of her own child, ten of which have appeared on the best selling list (Biography 1). The most prestigious of the novels is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This is a very controversial novel dealing with many serious issues including rape and murder. It is her most critically acclaimed work and was nominated for the National Book Award (Maya American 1).
She often writes using a female as the strong role model. In addition, she has published many distinguished poems which have received recognition by any people including President Clinton. Her poem On the Pulse of Morning was chosen by President Clinton to be read at the 1993 presidential inauguration. Many of her volumes of poetry have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize including Shaker, Why Dont You Sing? , And Still I Rise, and Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water fore I Die (Maya American 2). In addition to writing, she has had success in other categories of entertainment.
Her screenplay Georgia, Georgia was produced in 1971, and she wrote and produced a prize winning documentary Afro-Americans in the Arts which received a Golden Eagle award Biography 1) (Maya Angelou 1). Her musical compositions have been recorded by many famous people including B. B. King (Biography 1). Likewise, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in the hit movie Roots (Biography 1). Many distinguished Americans have chosen her to serve on commissions and attend very important conferences.
Martian Luther King, Jr. , requested her as the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Gerald Ford appointed her to the Bicentennial Commission, and Jimmy Carter named her to the National Commission on the Observance of International Womens Year (Maya Angelou 1). Maya Angelou has made an enormous contribution to not only the black society, but to everyone in the 1900s. Maya Angelous work has broken many barriers for the black writers, entertainers, and directors.
She has been a woman of firsts among the African American women. Angelou was the ground breaker for many black women in script writing and directing. In 1971, she became the first black woman to have an original screenplay produced (Biography 1). She was not only the first African-American, but also the first woman to read her work at a presidential inauguration (Maya American 2). In her series of autobiographical books, she describes the racist and sexual pressures put on black women during the time when she was a young girl.
This helped people become aware of what was going on during this time period. In addition to all of this, she was also San Franciscos first black woman conductor (Biography 1). Ms. Angelou now spends her time informing others about her knowledge of prejudices, and teaches students to stand up for their rights. She is a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina (Biography 1). She also educates about courage, perseverance, elf-acceptance, and self-actualization.
Maya Angelou helps African-American women to speak out against prejudices and is definitely a role model to many young black women. In conclusion, Maya Angelou is a remarkable person, and she has made a tremendous contribution to all Americans through her writing, screenwriting, and songwriting. Her autobiographies help readers to visualize all of the hardships Maya Angelou faced and overcame while growing up. She helps black women to realize they do not have to be defeated by prejudices, and is an identity for young women of all races to relate to.
