Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (http://www.mayaangelou.com/AngelouColor.jpg)

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a woman who has overcome hardships almost all her life. She had the courage and determination to stay strong. Maya Angelou is a famous poet, playwright, and a very accomplished writer. Her words stir people up and create insight to a whole new world for her readers.

Maya Angelou has done many things in her life that no people would ever think of. When she first dropped out of high school she became the first Black cable car conductor in San Francisco. She has created 12 best-selling books, most of them autobiographies. Maya Angelou has traveled all over the world and done many jobs. She has also worked with Dr. Martin Luther King. In 1993 Maya Angelou read her poem, “On the Pulse of the Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. She has done many things but she is widely known for being a great poet, writer, playwright, and teacher.

My hero lived during a time of racial segregation. She was treated with hand-me-down clothes from white women and she was made fun of. Her childhood was also filled sadness. At the young age of eight she was sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. This terrible ordeal sent her into four years of silence. She would only speak to her brother Bailey. It was during this time that she began read and get interested in poetry. She began to talk again because of a teacher that told her to express herself. When Maya started talking again it started a whole new world. Because of her four years of silence Maya got interested and learned to love poetry. This may have been the beginning of her fabulous career.

A hero is someone who you look up to because of what they have done or because of what they do. Maya Angelou is my hero because she encourages people to “take life by the lapels”, to face your trials and hardships. She is a person who looks for the positive and never gives up. Her ability to stay strong throughout the early years of her life makes her a hero to me. She sacrificed herself for others so they could have a better life. She shows leadership by writing all these books about her life and telling people to be positive.

Maya Angelou is my hero because she is always positive. She encourages people to be positive and to always look foreword. She is my hero because she made sacrifices for someone she loved. She is a leader for all those who feel that they have a difficult time in life. She offers hope and she gives insight to what can be if you are positive and never give up. Maya Angelou is my hero because of what she had overcome and because of what she has accomplished. She took life head on and she never gave up. Maya Angelou is a writer, poet, playwright, teacher, mother, and she is my hero.