Maya angelou was born in Saint louis,missouri and was given name maya by her older brother who callde her "my" or "mine".when she was young she was raped by her mother's boyfriend and was mute five years .After her parents divorsed she and her brother were sent to Arkansas to be raised by their patential grandmother.In 1940 she and her brother moved to San Franciskoto be with their mother ,who had bythen remaried .she took drama and dance lessons.at six teen years of age ,she became a streetcarconductor in San Francisko.she gave birth to her son Clyde"guy" johnson, just a few month after graduating a high school in 1945.at 22 ,she married tosh angelos,a former sailor of Greek descent ,but she left her marriage two and half years later and set out to become a professional dancer.maya angelou spent her formative years shutlling between st.Louis,Arkansas,and San Francisko.She worked as an editor for The Arab observer,an English-language weelcly published in Cairo.Maya Angelou lived in Accra ,Ghana ,where under the black nationalist regime of Karane Nkrumah she taught music ,drama ,and studied cinematography in Sweden.

             Maya Angelou's first achivement was,when she became a selebrityin 1970witch the publication of "I know why caged bird sings."It was the first volume of her autobiography,which was about her encounters with southern racism and rape by her mother's lover.I know why the caged bird sings ,was also made into television movie in 1979.

             Maya Angelou's second achievment was in 1971 when sheprodused "just give me a cool drink of water 'fore I die",in 1975Oh pray my wings are going to fit me well ,in 1979 And I still rise,and in 1983 Shaker why don't you sing?She was nominated in 1977 for an emmy award adaption of the best selling rootsTree more volumes of Maya Angelo's autobiography are Gather together in my name(1974),Singing and Swingin'' and getting merry like Christmas(1976),and the heart of woman (1981).