PBS NewsHour remembers Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928 in St. Louis. “Maya” had been a nickname given by her brother.
In her memoir, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Angelou told the story of her childhood, growing up in St. Louis, Long Beach, California, and Stamps, Arkansas. One of the most controversial parts told of when Angelou went mute at seven-and-a-half after her mother’s boyfriend, who had raped her, had been murdered. She did not speak for more than five years, but it was during formative years of silence, Angelou said, that she fell in love with language.
“I thought my voice had killed the man. And I thought if I spoke, my voice might just go out and kill anybody, randomly,” Angelou said in a 2008 interview. “So I learned to read and I read every book I could find. And I memorized.”
Read the whole story from PBS NewsHour
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