Maya Angelou

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New 'Remarkable' Women's Quarters Starts With a Big One

US Mint has started shipping quarters with image of poet Maya Angelou, first in a series

(Newser) - The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. Angelou, an American author, poet, and civil rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings...

2 New Women to Be Honored on Quarters

Maya Angelou and Sally Ride

(Newser) - The first two women to be honored as part of the US Mint's American Women Quarters Program: Maya Angelou and Sally Ride. The poet and the astronaut will appear on the "tails" side of the coins, entering circulation in January, the New York Times reports. George Washington will...

Alaska School Board Bans Catch-22 , 4 Other Classics
School Board Pulls 5 Classics
Apr 26, 2020 9:21 AM CDT

School Board Pulls 5 Classics

Business picks up at local bookstore after vote

(Newser) - High school students in an Alaska district will no longer discuss several literary classics in class. The Matanuska-Susitna School Board voted 5-2 last week to remove five titles from the list of books teachers can use in elective English classes, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The books stricken are: Invisible ...

Maya Angelou’s Stamp Has a Glaring Problem

That quote? Not really hers

(Newser) - Maya Angelou is a poet, author, civil rights icon, cultural giant , and as of today the face of the United States Postal Service's latest Forever stamp. What she is not, however, is author of the quote attributed to her that graces the aforementioned stamp, reports the Washington Post . "...

America Mourns Its 'Fierce' Poet
 America Mourns 
 Its 'Fierce' Poet 
APPRECIATION
May 28, 2014 1:58 PM CDT

America Mourns Its 'Fierce' Poet

Luminaries lines up to pay homage to Maya Angelou

(Newser) - Writer, inaugural poet, storyteller, mentor, civil rights activist, Grammy winner, journalist, streetcar conductor, and even madam—Maya Angelou wore a vast rainbow of hats during her 86 years, and Americans wasted no time today in paying homage to the fiercely eloquent force of nature. Without ado:
  • President Obama: Citing "
...

Here's Maya Angelou's Inspiring Last Tweet

She calls on readers to 'listen to themselves'

(Newser) - Five days ago, Maya Angelou posted her final tweet , and it's as poetic as you might expect. It also, as Mediaite notes, provides a fitting epitaph for a writer who used her own experiences to reach out to others. "Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might...

Maya Angelou Dead at 86


 Maya Angelou 
 Dead at 86 
OBITUARY
May 28, 2014 8:45 AM CDT

Maya Angelou Dead at 86

Famed poet and author had been suffering health problems

(Newser) - Maya Angelou has died at age 86. The former poet laureate and author's caretaker found her this morning at her home in Winston-Salem, NC, WGHP reports; the town's mayor confirming the news. Angelou's health had been failing recently; last week she cited health reasons in bowing out...

Maya Angelou: 'Blood Running in Streets' if No Mandela

Hails 'gentle giant' as tributes continue for Madiba

(Newser) - Maya Angelou led the latest round of tributes to Nelson Mandela today, telling CBS that "had there been no Mandela, we would see the blood running in the streets" after apartheid fell. The author and poet met the iconic anti-apartheid icon in the 1960s through her former husband, a...

10 Misleading Words to Be Wiped From MLK Memorial

At a cost of as much as $900K

(Newser) - The truncated quote on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial that made the civil rights leader sound like, in Maya Angelou's words, " an arrogant twit ," will be removed. Officials initially said that the quote—"I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness"—would...

Architect: MLK Inscription on Monument Is Staying

It's not wrong, it's just 'succinct,' he says

(Newser) - Those who think the truncated quote attributed to Martin Luther King on his new DC memorial do a disservice to the man are just going to have to deal with it. The chief architect defends the quotation and says he has no plans to tweak it, reports the Washington Post...

Angelou: Misleading Quote Makes King Look Like 'Twit'

...and 'arrogant' and an 'egoist,' she complains

(Newser) - Add Maya Angelou to the chorus of voices who are none too pleased with how the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial turned out. There's already been some hullabaloo over the fact that one of the quotes on the wall by the Tidal Basin wasn't actually uttered by King,...

Buffett, Bush, Merkel Among Medal of Freedom Honorees

President Obama will give medals to 15 more recipients

(Newser) - President Obama will give the Medal of Freedom to 15 more honorees early next year, including George HW Bush and Warren Buffett. The list of recipients, released today, runs the gamut from sports greats (baseball legend Stan Musial and basketball great Bill Russell) to civil rights pioneers (Sylvia Mendez, who...

Kanye West Is the Next Maya Angelou
 Kanye West Is the 
 Next Maya Angelou 

OR SO HE SAYS
Jan 7, 2010 9:29 AM CST

Kanye West Is the Next Maya Angelou

He's back in studio, comparing himself to legends

(Newser) - Famously egotistical rapper Kanye West is back in the studio—and comparing himself to Kobe Bryant and Maya Angelou in a typical-for-him, all-caps blog post . Unlike many rappers, he promises he won’t get worse with age, because “true poets get better,” he writes. There’s just one...

Angelou Alive, Well, Despite Reports

TMZ reports poet's illness, Twitterers add 'RIP'

(Newser) - Contrary to reports by TMZ and scores of Tweets and re-Tweets, Maya Angelou is alive and well. The gossip site reported over the weekend that the poet missed a Los Angeles awards show because she had been hospitalized. In fact, she hadn't been invited to the presentation. The mix-up exhibited...

Angelou on Michelle: Welcome the 'Real Deal'

Poet celebrates future first lady as 'the real deal'

(Newser) - North Carolina, the state that gave us Jesse Helms and more than a few Klan members, went wild for Michelle Obama at a September rally as a stunned Maya Angelou watched, the poet recalls in the Washington Post. People of all races gave a thunderous welcome to the next first...

African History Endures in Downtown NY

Monument on site of burial ground honors slaves, free blacks

(Newser) - Concealed for centuries beneath what are now Manhattan skyscrapers, a burial ground uncovered in 1991 teemed with life today as a ceremony honoring African and African American people and their histories marked the dedication of a $50 million granite memorial. "Now we have an opportunity to right some of...

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