Dr. Maya Angelou
Dr. Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was sent at the age of 7 to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Poverty and racism were unrelenting and cruel in the segregated South during the Depression. But her grandmother's kitchen-table wisdom nourished Angelou for years to come.
Raped by her mother's boyfriend, Angelou believed it was her fault and stopped talking after her rapist was murdered. When Angelou finally found her voice, tributaries of books, plays, poems, films and movies flowed into an ocean of work, spanning nearly 50 years.
She is the author of 12 best-selling books and the recipient of countless awards. Angelou was appointed in 1981 to a lifetime position as the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University. She is also a member of the advisory board of Bennett College in Greensboro.
Angelou became the second poet in U.S. history to write and recite an original work at the Presidential Inauguration. In 1998, the UNC Board of Governors approved the "Maya Angelou Institute for the Improvement of Child & Family Education" at Winston-Salem State University. Her persistent belief in the human spirit to "still rise" over tragedy makes her an NC Notable.
Previous NC Notables
10.27.2005 Mike Krzyzewski
10.20.2005 Jim Broyhill
10.13.2005 Reynolds Price
10.06.2005 Kay Yow
09.29.2005 Van Eure
09.22.2005 Mary Semans
09.15.2005 John Dornan
09.08.2005 Eva Clayton
09.01.2005 Lois Britt
08.25.2005 Fred Barber
08.18.2005 Julius Chambers
08.11.2005 Martha Guy
08.04.2005 Nido Qubein
07.28.2005 Jeanette Hyde
07.21.2005 Billy Graham
07.14.2005 Lee Smith
07.07.2005 Ralph Ketner
06.30.2005 Thomas Hearn
06.23.2005 John Allison
06.16.2005 Jim Martin
06.02.2005 Darleen Johns
05.26.2005 Hugh Morton
05.19.2005 Bernie Mann
05.12.2005 Orrin H. Pilkey
05.05.2005 William Friday
04.28.2005 Annie Louise Wilkerson
04.21.2005 Martin Lancaster
04.14.2005 Shirley Caesar
04.07.2005 Carl Fox
03.31.2005 Bob Jordan
03.24.2005 Ann T. Denlinger
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