But still, like air, I'll rise

If I had to give this post another title it would be: Le Fabuleux Destin de Maya Angelou. In English, like the movie Amélie, it would translate to Maya. Ordinarily, it should translate to The Fabulous Life of Maya Angelou.

image: businessinsider.com

Born on April 4, 1928, as Marguerite Annie Johnson.
Her parents separated in 1931 and she was sent to live with her paternal grandmother.
She was sent back to live with her mother in 1935.
Her mom's boyfriend raped her at the age of 8. In 1937. She told her brother, who told the rest of the family. The man was convicted but jailed for only one day. But someone was less lenient than the law and murdered him 4 days after his release. This shocked Angelou so much that she became mute for 5 years believing her voice led to his murder. She was sent back to her grandmother.
Again, in 1941, she returned to her mom. She began her dance and drama education.
In 1942, she dropped out of high school to become San Francisco's first black female cable car conductor (equivalent of danfo conductor).
In 1943, she returned to high school, became pregnant at the age of 17. Began her career as a single mother, waitress and cook.
In 1951, she married a Greek electrician, aspiring musician and former sailor, Tosh Angelos. And became a professional dancer.
In 1954, her marriage to Tosh ended. She became a nightclub singer. Took up the stage name Maya Angelou and began a two year tour of Europe.
In 1957, she recorded her first album, Miss Calypso.
In 1958, she joined a writing club and began her writing career.
In 1960, she joined Martin Luther King Jr's civil rights campaign.
In 1961, she moved with her son to Cairo, Egypt, to become associate editor of a weekly newspaper, The Arab Observer.
In 1962, she moved to Accra, Ghana, to become an administrator at the University of Ghana. She also became a feature editor for The African Review, a freelance writer for the Ghanaian Times, a broadcaster for Radio Ghana, and a performer at Ghana's National Theatre. Met Malcolm X in Ghana and they became close friends.
In 1964, she returned to US to help Malcolm X build a civil rights organization.
In 1967, she began writing poems and plays again. And was living off stipends from a friend.
In 1968, she was asked by Martin Luther King Jr. to help organize a match. King was murdered on her 40th birthday, April 4. Again, she suffered a depressing shock which on recovering from brought out the genius in her. According to her biographer, Marcia Ann Gillespie,  "If 1968 was a year of great pain, loss, and sadness, it was also the year when America first witnessed the breadth and depth of Maya Angelou's spirit and creative genius". Maya Angelou, without any previous experience, wrote, produced and narrated a ten-part series of documentaries. And also began work on her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
In 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

In 1972, she produced the first screenplay by a black woman.

In 1973, she married Paul de Feu, a carpenter. Began writing lots of articles, short stories, TV scripts, documentaries, plays and poetry. Also got an award nomination for her role in a movie titled Look Away.

In 1974, she published Gather Together in my Name.

In 1976, she published Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas.

In 1977, she bagged a lot of awards and over thirty honorary degrees from colleges and universities from all over the world. She also met Oprah Winfrey around this time, later to become her close friend and mentor.

In 1981, she divorced Paul de Feu. She got a lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And began her university teaching career.

In 1993, Maya Angelou recited her poem On the Pulse of Morning at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. The recording of the poem won a Grammy Award.

In 1995, she recited another poem A Brave and Startling Truth which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

In 1996, she directed a feature film, Down in the Delta. And received Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Association National Award.

In 2000, she created a successful collection of products for a greetings card company Hallmark, including greeting cards and decorative household items.

In 2002, she published her 6th autobiography, A Song Flung Up to Heaven.

In 2006, she received Mother Teresa Award

In 2008, she campaigned for Hilary Clinton. Some of her campaign ads featured Angelou's endorsement. After Obama won the primaries, she campaigned for him. She also became the first recipient of Hope for Peace and Justice Voice of Peace award.

In 2010, Angelou donated her personal papers and career memorabilia to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

In 2013, she published her seventh autobiography.

In 2014, she died at the age of 86.

Talk about a life full of achievements! Over 30 honorary degrees for someone who didn't attend any college/university. Her real life sort of began at the age of 40, when she wrote her first autobiography after the shocking death of Martin Luther King Jr. She grew up at a time when racism was rife in US.

Her whole life can be summarized in this amazing poem of hers:

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.