Marguerite Annie Johnson was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1928. When she was 8 years old, her mother's boyfriend sexually abused and raped her. He only spent one night in jail, but was murdered four days later, most likely by one of Johnson's uncles.
For the next 5 years, Johnson became a mute. "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone."
A teacher and family friend by the name of Mrs. Bertha Flowers was the one who started to help her speak again by introducing her to books written by literary heavyweights such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe.
The family soon moved to Oakland, California and at the age of 16, Johnson became the first first black female cable car conductor in San Francisco. She described it as her "dream job". However, in her 20s, she pivoted careers and began studying modern dance, eventually performing professionally in nightclubs around San Francisco in the early 1950s. It was during this time that Johnson decided to change her name to Maya Angelou in order to set her apart from other dancers.
In 1959, she met writer John Oliver Killens who encouraged her to move to New York City, where she joined the Harlem Writers Guild and launched her writing career, becoming an important voice for women and the black community.
In her 1969 autobiography, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", Angelou writes, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
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