Maya Angelou (born 1928)

Novelist and poet, in 1970 the first volume Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings became the first non-fiction work by a Black woman to top national bestseller lists.

Her distinctive, highly politically-charged style has influenced a generation of authors; her work has furthermore encouraged many Black women into professional writing.

One of her poems, Still I Rise, begins:

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise

Black People Who Changed the World

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