Question begins at the 3:00 minute mark
Obama supporter and famous poet Maya Angelou was asked by Time Magazine if she had ever fired a gun in her life.
Her answer was surprising — “Of course!” Angelou then recounted a time in which she fired upon a home intruder.
TRANSCRIPT:
TIME: Your mother — she was your protector. She often carried a gun, she seemed to be very fond of guns. Did you inherit your mother’s fondness for guns?
MAYA ANGELOU: Well, I do like to have guns around, I don’t like to carry them. But I like -- if somebody is going to come into my house and I have not put out the welcome mat, I want to stop them.
TIME: Have you ever fired a weapon?
ANGELOU: Of course!
TIME: At a person?
ANGELOU: I’ve fired it period, not at a person I hope!
I was in my house in North Carolina. It was fall. I heard someone walking on the leaves. And somebody actually turned the knob. So I said, "Stand four feet back because I'm going to shoot now!" Boom! Boom! The police came by and said, "Ms. Angelou, the shots came from inside the house." I said, "Well, I don't know how that happened."
Maya Angelou Fast Facts
updated 3:10 PM EDT, Thu April 4, 2013
Personal:
Birth date: April 4, 1928
Birth date: April 4, 1928
Birth place: St. Louis, Missouri
Birth name: Marguerite Annie Johnson
Father: Bailey Johnson, a doorman
Mother: Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse
Marriages: Paul de Feu (1973-1980, divorced); Tosh Angelos (1950-1952, divorced)
Children: Clyde "Guy" Johnson, 1944
Education: Attended California Labor School, 1942
Other Facts:
Author, poet, actor, singer, songwriter, dancer, playwright, historian, director, civil rights activist and teacher.
Author, poet, actor, singer, songwriter, dancer, playwright, historian, director, civil rights activist and teacher.
Fluent in six languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and West African Fanti.
First African-American female member of the Directors Guild of America.
Studied dance with Pearl Primus in New York.
Won three Grammy awards.
Nominated for a Tony Award.
Timeline:
1931 - Her parents divorce and Angelou is sent, with her brother Bailey, to live with paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas.
1931 - Her parents divorce and Angelou is sent, with her brother Bailey, to live with paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas.
1935 - Angelou and brother Bailey move to St. Louis to live with their mother.
1936 - Is raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. After Angelou confides about the rape to her brother and testifies at Freeman's trial, Freeman is found beaten to death, apparently at the hands of Angelou's uncles. Stops speaking in public for five years as a result of her guilt and belief that her words had caused Freeman's murder. This is the basis for her first autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."
1942 - While a high school student, studies drama and dance on scholarship at the California Labor School, a college for adults. Drops out to become San Francisco's first female African-American cable car conductor.
1950s - Nightclub performer at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, Mr. Kelly's in Chicago, and Blue Angel and Village Vanguard in New York.
1954-1955 - Tours Europe and Africa as Ruby in a State Department-sponsored production of "Porgy and Bess." Also, teaches modern dance in Italy and Israel.
1957 - Her only recorded album, "Miss Calypso," is released.
1960 - Writes, produces, directs and performs in a musical revue, "Cabaret for Freedom," to raise money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Succeeds Bayard Rustin as the northern coordinator for the SCLC.
1961-1962 - Moves to Cairo, Egypt, and becomes associate editor of the Arab Observer.
1963-1966 - Moves to Ghana as an assistant administrator for the School of Music & Drama at the University of Ghana and also works as feature editor for the African Review.
1970 - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is published. It is later broadcast on national television in 1979, with a script and musical score written by Angelou.
1972 - Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie."
1972 - Becomes the first African-American woman to have an original screenplay produced as a movie for "Georgia, Georgia."
1975 - Appointed to the Bicentennial Commission by President Gerald Ford.
1975-1976 - Member of National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.
1977 - Appears in the television mini-series "Roots."
1981 - Appointed lifetime chair as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
January 20, 1993 - Recites her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of Bill Clinton, becoming the second poet to participate in a president's inauguration after Robert Frost read at President John F. Kennedy's 1961 ceremony.
February 1993 - Wins Grammy for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album for "On The Pulse Of Morning."
October 16, 1995 - Recites poem "From a Black Woman to a Black Man" at the Million Man March in Washington.
1998 - Film directorial debut for "Down in the Delta."
2000 - Receives the National Medal of Arts.
2006-2010 - Hosts a weekly show for Oprah Radio on Sirius XM Radio, formerly XM radio's "Oprah and Friends."
January 21, 2008 - Is the keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Virginia Tech.
February 15, 2011 - Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
August 30, 2011 - Angelou is critical of the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC. She says the paraphrased quote about King being a drum major for peace, justice and righteousness makes him sound like an "arrogant twit." Federal officials later announce that the controversial inscription will be removed.
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