One of the most influential African-American women to in the United States was the great Maya . She was an accomplished author, poet, and entertainer, had a major impact on modern American culture. was considered an international, renaissance woman for her work that included civil rights activism. Angelou was in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. experienced racial discrimination during her early years, but on her upbringing and culture to get her the dark times of her life.

She first interested in the arts as a teenager. She a dance and drama scholarship at San Francisco's School. However, at the age of 14, she out of the school, and took a job the city's first African-American female cable car operator. had a child at an early age, and her son by working as a waitress, and , but her love of the arts soon consumed .

During the mid-1950s, Angelou was involved in several performances, which prompted her move to New York in 1958. In New York, she became an writer, but circumstances surrounding blacks in the next changed her focus. She began working tirelessly for civil rights movement. The assassination of civil rights , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on her birthday her deeply. After King's death, Angelou began concentrating writing her life story. Her first autobiography I Why the Caged Bird Sings received critical acclaim. chronicled her early years growing up as black a predominantly white American culture. In all, Angelou seven autobiographies, and her work is considered an part of American culture.