Maya Angelou

February 18, 2008

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Profile America for the 18th day of Black History Month. Maya Angelou is one of the most celebrated African-American authors and poets in recent U.S. history. Her most famous book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” vividly recounts the early years of her hectic and varied life — during which she has been a cocktail waitress, a streetcar conductor, a dancer and a chef. Later, she became a successful singer, actress and playwright. She has taught and lectured at many schools and has been a professor at Wake Forest University for over 20 years. In 1993, Maya Angelou read her poem “On The Pulse of Morning” at President Clinton’s inauguration. There are 174,000 people across the U.S. who make their living as authors and writers — nearly 6 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.