Phenomenal_Woman

Phenomenal Woman Phenomenal Woman Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, MO, on April 4, 1928, and is still alive today. As a child, she faced many hardships and traumas. When Angelou writes she has the “phenomenal power of rhythm of words” (Shelton 20). Angelou is a very respected individual despite the fact that she was a black woman growing up when prejudice towards blacks was a major issue and women had little or no rights. In her poems, “In My Missouri,” “Equality,” and her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings it is evident that Angelou has led a very rough, but outstanding life and her life experiences are truly reflected in her writings. Angelou’s parents were more fortunate than most black families. Her father, Bailey Johnson, was a navy cook, and her mother Vixian Baxter, was a nightclub performer as well as a owner of a large rooming house in San Francisco (Andrews 19). In the early 1930’s, sadly her parents were divorced and “...her father sent her and her brother, Bailey, by train, with name tags on their wrists, to live with his mother, Momma Henderson” (Andrews 19). When Angelou turned seven years angelou, life, man, black, andrews, 19, poem, writes, rape, missouri, being, autobiography, you’ve, time, raped, prejudice, mother’s, maya, first, divorced, child, caged, been, because, angelou’s, 20, years, writing, woman, very, towards, sings, shows, shelton