Maya Angelou: A Phenomenal Woman

The resources below provide biographical information—including the PBS American Masters film about Maya Angelou—access to collections of poetry, and multimedia resources to hear and see Dr. Angelou perform her poetry. 

• Maya Angelou bio (Poetry Foundation)
• Caged Bird Legacy

• "Maya Angelou: Live" (video of poetry reading)
• "Love Liberates" (video interview)
• "And Still I Rise" (PBS American Masters film)
• "Why the Caged Bird Raps" (audio) 
• Poem Hunter (audio & visual options)
• Stages of Freedom: 2019 "And Still I Rise" poetry reading (Rhode Island)

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

"Still I Rise" (1978)

• The Poem (with audio option)
• Dr. Angelou reading "Still I Rise" (video)
• About the Poem
• Research Guide

"Phenomenal Woman" (1978)

• The Poem (audio option)
• About the Poem
• Dr. Angelou reading "Phenomenal Woman" (video)

"I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals –
I know what the caged bird feels!"

"Caged Bird" (1983)

• The Poem
• About the poem
• Dr. Angelou reading "Caged Bird" (video, PBS Learning Media)
• Paul Laurence Dunbar's "Sympathy" (1899)

"His Day is Done" (2013)

• The Poem
• Dr. Maya Angelou reading "His Day is Done," a poem written about South Africa's first Black President, Nelson Mandela, upon his death in 2013 (video).

"Abundant Hope" (2011)

• The Poem
• About the Poem
• Dr. Angelou reading "Abundant Hope"  at a reception for the opening of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2011 (video).

"A Brave and Startling Truth" (1995)

• The Poem
• Dr. Angelou reading "A Brave and Startling Truth" at the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations in 1995 (video).

"On the Pulse of Morning" (1993)

• The Poem
• About the Poem
• Dr. Angelou reading "On the Pulse of Morning" at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993 (video).

"A Plagued Journey" (1983)

• The Poem

"Woman Work" (1978)

• The Poem
• Dr. Angelou reading "Woman Work" (video)

"Harlem Hopscotch" (1971)

• The Poem

"The Mothering Blackness" (1971)

• The Poem