Maya Angelou Passes At Age 86
The death of author/poet Maya Angelou was announced on May 28, 2014. Reports say she died in her North Carolina home. Angelou was known mainly for her poetry and autobiographical works. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969, is an autobiography that is one of her most well known works.The book was adapted into a film in 1979. It told of the events of Angelou’s life from age 3 – 17 as she struggled with rape, racism, and her own identity. Many of her works explored the same themes, but an underlying sense of hope still pervaded. Just 5 days ago, the last tweet posted on Maya Angelou’s Twitter feed read “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.” It looks as if at least some of the tweets regularly posted on her feed were her own live reactions to things happening around her. Others were hand-picked quotes from her poems. As there has been no announcement about her death on her twitter feed at this time, it seems likely the feed may have been handled, at least to some degree, by the woman herself.
Maya Angelou was incredibly influential over the last half-century. She received immense acclaim rarely awarded to Black authors including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, The National Medal of Arts, over 30 honorary degrees, 3 Grammys for her spoken word albums, and Tony Award for her role in a play. Clearly the woman was much more than just a poet.
BBC Put out a short video clip in remembrance of Maya Angelou. Watch it below.
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