Our lives in their words: These are the 10 best black poets of the 20th Century

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou has a Pulitzer and Grammys for her poetry. But that is even not why she is on this list.

In works such as And Still I Rise, On The Pulse of Morning and Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, Angelou treats themes such as alienation, determination and renaissance that find resonance even beyond the confines of the black experience.

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Any cursory survey would find Angelou as probably the single most quotable African-American poet for black people of our times.