Magnet - Still I Rise

In these difficult times we need inspiration. One of the places we look is to Dr. Maya Angelou.

A celebrated poet, author, actor and activist, Dr. Angelou (1928-2014) served as New York coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, working closely with Dr. King. Later, she worked as a journalist in Egypt and Ghana in the heady days of decolonization, and was a friend and comrade of Malcolm X and James Baldwin.

She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. Her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) was truly groundbreaking.

She is one of the remarkable women profiled in our Sisters of Freedom exhibit. The line on the shirt is from her poem “Still I Rise” from her collection And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems ©1978.