Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou was an acclaimed American poet, storyteller, activist, and autobiographer. She had a broad career as a singer, dancer, actress, composer, and Hollywood’s first female black director, but became most famous as a writer, editor, essayist, playwright, and poet. She was respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of black culture. Angelou’s most famous work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) is an account of her childhood in the Jim Crow South. During her lifetime Angelou recited her poems in front of crowds like performances tracing back to African-American oral traditions.

 

Workshop

Let’s listen, read, & share Maya Angelou’s empowering poetry with each other.

1. Listen to Maya Angelou recite her poetry
2. Read, download, and print free attached poems
3. Let’s share our thoughts, feelings, and ideas about these poems with each other 4. Write a poem inspired by or in response to one of Maya Angelou’s poems

Materials

Attached free poems to print & downloadable poems. Links for recordings/videos by Maya Angelou:

Still I Rise
https://vimeo.com/5453316

The Mask
https://youtu.be/UT9y9HFHpU0

Phenomenal Woman
https://youtu.be/VeFfhH83_RE

On the Pulse of the Morning
https://youtu.be/59xGmHzxtZ4

Follow Up

Which poem could you most relate to?
How did it make you feel?
What do you think of Maya Angelou’s voice? Her writing? Her story?
If you could share any of these poems which one would you like to pass on to a friend, family member, classmate or even stranger?

 

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

- Maya Angelou

 
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Maya Lin