Maya Angelou was an acclaimed poet, writer, and civil rights activist born in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She overcame a difficult childhood that included being raped at age seven and not speaking for five years. Angelou went on to have a prolific career as one of the first black women to write and produce an original screenplay. She was also politically active in the civil rights movement and supported Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Her influential works included the poem "Still I Rise" and her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."