Dr. Maya Angelou was born to Vivian Baxter and Bailey Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. She passed to her Heavenly reward quietly on May 28, 2014 in her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

From the time she was a child, Dr. Angelou proved that she was a unique individual with amazing commitment and focus. The birth of her son when she was seventeen did not prevent her from continuing to pursue her dreams for a creative career. From her start as a singer in San Francisco's Purple Onion and the Hungry I in 1953, to the installation of her portrait in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC in 2014; she was continuously on a dramatic, musical, or political stage.

Dr. Maya Angelou was a dancer, singer, actress, poet, writer, magazine editor, playwright, film director, college lecturer, full-time professor, and fearless, outspoken activist. She never let her various vocations inhibit her activism or her willingness to speak out against injustice and inequality. She performed in a number of major productions. She was in both the 1954 International Touring Company and the subsequent movie Porgy and Bess. She was also in the 1977 television series of Alex Haley's 'Roots' and in the 1995 film 'How to Make an American Quilt.' There are too many other productions to name. She directed the films 'Georgia, Georgia' and 'Down in the Delta.'

Dr. Maya Angelou's first book 'I know Why the Caged Bird Sings' was published in 1970. She went on to write thirty-six other books including autobiographies, poetry, and essays. A number of Dr. Angelou's works were best sellers and were published in a number of languages.

Throughout her life, Dr. Angelou's activism never flagged or waned. In 1959, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, she headed the New York office of Dr. Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, she worked for the Arab Observer Magazine in Cairo, Egypt which was the premiere English language Magazine in the Middle East. Later she moved to Ghana and met Malcolm X. She returned to the United States to work for him, but he was assassinated four days after her arrival in New York. She continued to be the voice of humanity, speaking out against that fettered the human spirit. Her life and her body of literary work trumpet the importance of love, tolerance, and forgiveness. She was a warrior for truth, justice, and love.

She is survived by her son; daughter-in-law; two grandsons; two great grandchildren; a nephew; a niece; great nieces, great-great nieces; great nephews; great-great nephews; and a host of beloveds.

A Celebration of Rising Joy was held at 10am Saturday, June 7, 2014 at Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.