Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of Vivian and Bailey Johnson and sister to Bailey Johnson Jr.

When Maya was three she she took a train to live in Stamps, Arkansas alone with four-year-old brother. When they arrived in Stamps their grandmother, Annie Henderson, looked after them.

When Maya was 17 she had a child named Clyde Bailey Johnson.

In the 1950's Maya Angelou married a man named Tos Angelos, only then did Maya begin to use the name Maya Angelou.

Maya was a 1950's singer and performer. She is also a poet, and playwright and a lot of other things.

Ms. Angelou also married to a man named Vus Make but they divorced.

In 1993 Maya Angelou read "On The Pulse Of Morning" at Bill Clinton's inauguration.

Maya Angelou now lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.