1st Person: Maya Angelou

Professional
Maya Angelou began her career in drama and dance but quickly moved on to other things. And in every medium she has chosen, she has been a groundbreaker for black women.

Author

She was encouraged to write the story of her life using the same cadences that often mesmerized her listeners at social gatherings. Since then, she has published 10 best-selling books and numerous magazine articles earning her Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominations.

1970: Wrote her first autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which covers her life from childhood until the birth of her son at age 17.
1974-1986: Published five more volumes of autobiography.

Poet

Six volumes of verse bear Angelou's name, but not all of her work has fared well with tough critics. David Streitfeld once commented in The Washington Post, "She's a people's poet rather than a poet's poet, which means she has a much bigger audience [than most poets] but doesn't win awards."

1971: Published her first poetry book, "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie," which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
1993: At the request of President Clinton, wrote and delivered "On the Pulse of the Morning: The Inaugural Poem" at his first presidential inauguration. No poet had taken part in presidential inauguration since 1961, when Robert Frost read his work at the ceremony for John F. Kennedy.

Also in 1993, wrote poetry for John Singleton's film "Poetic Justice."
1994: Read "Still I Rise" for 50th anniversary campaign for the United Negro College Fund.

Screenwriter, Playwright,
Actress, Producer, Director

She has written and produced several prize-winning documentaries, including "Afro-Americans in the Arts," a PBS special for which she received the Golden Eagle. She has made hundreds of stage and television appearances.

1968: Wrote "Black, Blues, Black," a 10-part television series about the prominent role of African culture in American life.
1972: Wrote "Georgia, Georgia," a film about the differing responses to white society of two black women traveling in Switzerland, and became the first black woman to have a screenplay produced.
1976: Nominated for an Emmy Award for her role as Kunta Kinte's grandmother in the highly acclaimed television miniseries "Roots."
1979: Wrote script and musical score for television version of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."
1998: Made film directorial debut with "Down in the Delta," in which two characters are trapped in silence -- one by Alzheimer's and one by autism.

Civil Rights Activist

Her developing political awareness dovetailed with her theatrical interests in 1960 when, after hearing a speech by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., she decided to produce a play, "Freedom Cabaret," to raise money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

1960s: Became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at King's request.
1975: Appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Bicentennial Commission.
1976: Appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.

Educator and Scholar

She now spends at least one semester each year sharing with college students her love of philosophy, French and Spanish. "If I had taught before I had written a book," she says, "I might never have written a book, I love teaching so. I am a teacher."

1970s: Yale University Fellow; Rockefeller Foundation scholar; writer in residence at the University of Kansas; and visiting professor at Wake Forest University, Wichita State University, California State University.
1981: Lifetime appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.