Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri to Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson. Her real name was Marquerite Johnson. She later adopted “Maya” as a nickname from her brother Bailey Jr., which means “my sister.” After her parents divorced when she was three, Maya and her brother were sent to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya referred to her grandmother as “momma.” Her grandmother tried nothing more but to …showed first 75 words of 786 total…

…showed last 75 words of 786 total…to serve on the National Commission on the observance of International Women’s Year. Dr. Angelou is currently a Reynolds Professor at Wake Forest University. Maya Angelou is currently a quest speaker at several institutions around the United States. She has made several appearances on Oprah. Maya Angelou was asked to compose a poem for President Clinton’s inauguration. On January 20th, 1993 Ms. Angelou performed “On the Pulse of the Morning” at President Clintons inauguration.