Who was Maya Angelou?

Born in Missouri in 1928, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood.

Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites in the South.

Her family life was unstable at times. But much like her poem, "Still I Rise," Angelou was able to lift herself out of her situation and flourish.

She moved to California and became the first black - and first female - streetcar operator before following her interest in dance.

She became a professional performer in her twenties and toured the U.S. and Europe as an opera star and calypso dancer. But Angelou's writing became her defining talent. Her poems and books, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, brought her international acclaim.