Maya Angelou, who was born in St. Louis in 1928 and grew up against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, went on to lead what seemed like infinite lives. She became San Francisco’s first black female street-car conductor at age 16; studied dance with Martha Graham; became a calypso dancer; traveled the world during the 1950s in a production of Porgy and Bess; and, of course, went on to be a world-renowned poet, author, activist, and scholar. She was a contemporary of Martin Luther King Jr. and Oprah, the recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Arts. And though Angelou’s influence spanned generations of black history, she never forgot the roots that inspired her cultural, academic, and political work.
She touched all corners of culture and history — who doesn’t remember the first time I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings or “And Still I Rise” entered their consciousness? Angelou, who died today at 86, lived a life so full it spanned six volumes of a memoir, but, as she once said, “life loves the liver of it.” What more would you expect? Click through our slideshow to see highlights of her inspiring life.
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An early portrait, circa 1950.Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Dressed for the Caribbean Calypso Festival, in 1957.Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection
A promotional portrait for her album,
Miss Calypso, in 1957.Photo: Gene Lester/Getty Images
A still from the movie
Calypso Heat Wave, in 1957.Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection
With Dionne Warwick in Washington, D.C.Photo: Eli Reed/Magnum Photos
Portrait of the poet, in 1970.Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
In New York, in 1974.Photo: Wayne Miller/Magnum Photos
In 1976.Photo: CSU Archives/Everett Collection
From
Roots, which aired, in 1977.Photo: ABC/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. / Getty Images
With Gloria Steinem on their way to the March on Washington, in 1983.Photo: James M. Thresher/Getty Images
Portrait in Oakland, California, in 1984.Photo: Christopher Felver/Corbis
In Washington, D.C., in 1986.Photo: Corbis
At home in Pacific Palisades, California, in 1988.Photo: Marlene Wallace/Getty Images
London, in the late 1980s.Photo: Lennox Smillie/ Camera Press/Redux
Dancing with Amiri Baraka on the 89th birthday of Langston Hughes, New York, in 1991.Photo: Chester Higgins; Jr./ The New York Times/ Redux
After reciting a poem, "On the Pulse of Morning," for Bill Clinton's Inauguration Day, Washington, D.C., 1993.Photo: Visions of Ameri...After reciting a poem, "On the Pulse of Morning," for Bill Clinton's Inauguration Day, Washington, D.C., 1993.Photo: Visions of America/Getty Images
With Toni Morrison in Winston-Salem, in 1994.Photo: Will McIntyre/Getty Images
With Toni Morrison, Susan L. Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, Rita Dove, and Angela Davis in Winston-Salem, in 1994.Photo: Will McIntyre/Getty Images
Making dinner for Toni Morrison and Rita Dove at home in Winston-Salem, in 1994.Photo: Will McIntyre/Getty Images
With Oprah Winfrey in New York City, in 1996.Photo: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
With musicians Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson in New York, in 1997.Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./Getty Images
Portrait in London, in 1999.Photo: Martin Godwin/Getty Images
With Bill Clinton after winning the National Medal of Arts, Washington, D.C., in 2000.Photo: STEPHEN JAFFE/Getty Images
With two students at the Duke Ellington Honoree's reception. Washington, D.C., in 2000.Photo: Rebecca D’Angelo/Corbis
With Coretta Scott King, in 2002.Photo: KMazur/Getty Images
In her New York City apartment, in 2002.Photo: New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images
At the CMT Awards, in 2004.Photo: Mark Sullivan/Getty Images
With Common in New York City, in 2008.Photo: Brian Ach/Getty Images
With Desmond Tutu in Washington, in 2008.Photo: JIM YOUNG/Corbis
With Hillary Rodham Clinton at Wake Forest University, in 2008.Photo: Charlotte Observer/Getty Images
Presenting in New York City, in 2008.Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images
With Sigourney Weaver in New York City, in 2009.Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
With Niecy Nash in New York City, in 2009.Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
At her 82nd birthday party in Winston-Salem, in 2010.Photo: Steve Exum/Getty Images
With Lee Daniels and Jeff Majors at her 82nd birthday party in Winston-Salem, in 2010.Photo: Steve Exum/Getty Images
With Robin Roberts for a
Good Morning America segment on her cookbook,
Great Food, All Day Long, in 2011.Photo: Heidi Gutman/American Broadca...With Robin Roberts for a
Good Morning America segment on her cookbook,
Great Food, All Day Long, in 2011.Photo: Heidi Gutman/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./Getty Images
With Michelle Obama during the BET Honors ceremony, in 2012.Photo: Kris Connor/Getty Images
With Tony Bennett in New York, in 2013.Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images
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