Maya Angelou - 1928-2014

Maya Angelou, born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis as Marguerite Annie Johnson, was an author, poet and political activist. She died on May 28, 2014, in Winston-Salem, N.C., at age 86.
Angelou poses for a photo in London on Sept. 20, 2005.

Angelou began her career as a dancer and writer. She poses in this 1957 photo at the Caribbean Calypso Festival.

Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was her first book, a coming-of-age autobiography that recounted her childhood and early adult years, including her experience of becoming a teenage mother.

Angelou stars with Cicely Tyson in the 1977 television mini-series "Roots." She played Kunta Kinte's grandmother.

Newly sworn-in President Bill Clinton reaches out to hug Angelou after she delivered her inaugural poem, "On the Pulse of Morning," on the west steps of the Capitol during inauguration ceremonies in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 1993.

Angelou makes a 1995 guest appearance on Sesame Street in a skit called, 'A New Way to Walk.'

Angelou and Coretta Scott King, left, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., speak to the media after visiting Betty Shabazz, the widow of slain civil rights activist Malcom X, at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y., on June 2, 1997.

Angelou speaks to a crowd at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus on Sept. 11, 2000, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Angelou, who spoke on the healing and saving nature of poetry, encouraged the crowd to become the composers of their own lives.

President Clinton congratulates Angelou after presenting her with the National Medal of Arts during ceremonies at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 2000.

Angelou talks with reporters before giving a reading at the Abyssinian Development Corporation's 10th Annual Renaissance Day of Commitment Leadership Breakfast in Harlem, N.Y., on June 15, 2004.

Angelou speaks before delegates during the second night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention at the Fleet Center in Boston on July 27, 2004.

Angelou speaks during the funeral services for Coretta Scott King at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., on Feb. 7, 2006. King, the wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died Jan. 30, 2006, at the age of 78. Seated behind Angelou is President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush.

Angelou, left, director Tyler Perry and actress Cicely Tyson are seen on the set of "Madea's Family Reunion" in 2006.

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton holds the hand of Angelou during a conversation in front of an audience at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., during a campaign stop on April 18, 2008.

Angelou attends the memorial celebration for Odetta Holmes, an American singer, actress and activist, at Riverside Church in New York City on on Feb. 24, 2009. Holmes, called the "Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" died at age 77.

Angelou shares a moment with Naomi Judd during a celebration of Angelou's 82nd birthday with friends and family at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., on May 20, 2010.

President Barack Obama kisses Angelou after presenting her with the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the White House on Feb. 15, 2011.

Oprah Winfrey, right, laughs with Angelou during the taping of "Oprah's Surprise Spectacular" in Chicago on May 17, 2011. Angelou found something of a spiritual soul mate in Oprah, who she met in the 1970s when the future talk show queen was still a TV anchor.

Angelou talks with Johnnetta Cole, director of the National Museum of African Art, at Angelou's portrait unveiling at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery on April 5, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

Angelou speaks during a ceremony to honor South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu with the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding Award in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 21, 2008.