Marguerite Annie Johnson, or as we know her Maya Angelou, was an acclaimed American poet, storyteller, activist, and autobiographer, as well as a singer, dancer, actress, composer, Hollywood’s first black female director, AND civil rights activist alongside both Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X. Her most renowned work, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, was published in 1969 and put Angelou on an international platform as an artist and a voice for African Americans and women with her push to raise the moral standards of living. Though Maya’s writing and influence brought her respect and recognition, she was extremely private with her personal life, particularly when it came to her marriages (we assume there were two) and her son, Guy. But what can I say about Maya? She was a lover of sherry, a woman who worked her ass off to support her son, a survivor of sexual assault and abuse, and a woman who never gave up no matter what obstacles life threw her way. As linguist John McWhorter put it:  “Angelou’s life has certainly been a full one; from the hardscrabble Depression era south to pimp, prostitute, supper club chanteuse, performer in Porgy and Bess, coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, journalist in Egypt and Ghana in the heady days of decolonization, comrade of Malcolm X, and eyewitness to the Watts riots. She knew King and Malcolm, Billie Holiday, and Abbey Lincoln.” With an introduction like that, I think we should just dive into episode 26 and discuss the amazing, and unbelievably accomplished life of Maya Angelou.