Google is celebrating late American poet and singer, Dr. Maya Angelou, on today’s Google Doodle. While Maya was an established author and poet, she did have a tumultuous childhood. Maya was raped by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of seven. Maya’s abuser was released after being locked in jail for only one day. He would be killed four days after and Angelou would go on to be mute for five days.
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It was during that time that Angelou became an avid reader of works by Anne Spencer, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe and Frances Harper. Maya’s work focused mainly on the themes of racism and self-discovery.
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Ms Angelou would have turned 90 today but she passed on May 28, 2014. In honour of Maya’s life, Google recorded lines from Maya’s poem ‘Still I Rise’ with sections read by Angelou’s son, Guy Johnson, Alicia Keys, Oprah Winfrey, America Ferrera, Martina McBride and Laverne Cox.