R.I.P MAYA ANGELOU : SHE HAS DIED AT AGE OF 86

Author, poet, rights activist, my idol, my super woman Maya Angelou dies at 86.

The prolific African-American writer, known for her lyrical prose and regal speaking voice, died quietly at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Angelou's family said in a statement. No cause of death was given.

She also playwright, actress, singer, dancer and professor.

She was born on April 4, 1928.

At age 7, Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend, who was later beaten to death in an assault that some believed was carried out by Angelou's uncles. The trauma of the rape and her assailant's death left Angelou mute for six years.

She began writing during that silent period. She would chronicle the first 17 years of her life in the 1969 autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which her friend, writer James Baldwin, had encouraged her to write.

She never went to college but collected more than 30 honorary degrees. As a teenager Angelou moved to San Francisco, where she pursued an entertainment career, became an unwed mother at 17 and also found a job as a streetcar conductor.

In subsequent years she mixed writing with singing and working on projects with civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. For years she did not celebrate her birthday because it coincided with the anniversary of King's assassination.

Angelou also directed, wrote and acted in movies, plays and television programs and was a songwriter, educator and popular lecturer. Her acting credits included a role in the ground-breaking television mini-series "Roots" and she wrote the script and score for the movie "Georgia, Georgia."

She was a Grammy winner for three spoken-word albums.

"A childhood of suffering and abuse actually drove her to stop speaking – but the voice she found helped generations of Americans find their rainbow amidst the clouds, and inspired the rest of us to be our best selves," Obama said in a statement.

"She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace," Winfrey said

R.I.P Maya.