Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) – Quarters that feature Maya Angelou (American author, activist), the first Black women to be featured on quarters have been released by the U.S. Mint.

This coin forms part of American Women Quarters, and Anna May Wong is also included in the program. The United States Mint stated https:// Monday.

Angelou achieved international recognition after publishing her autobiography, I Know Why the Cagedbird Sings. This book was an unflinching description of South segregation and rape.

Angelou, seven years old, was raped and beaten by her father’s boyfriend. Some believe that the attack was perpetrated by Angelou’s uncles. Angelou was left mute after six years of suffering from the trauma caused by her rape and the assailant’s murder. She started writing in that period.

In 2014, she was 86 years old. She was a prolific African-American writer, known for her poetic prose and powerful speaking voice.

Janet Yellen from the U.S. Treasury said that each time our currency is redesigned, we can say something about ourselves – our values and our progress as a country.

“These coins are a tribute to some of America’s most outstanding women, Maya Angelou included. I’m proud of them.”

Angelou was honored with more than 30 honorary degrees. She read “On the Pulse for Morning” at Bill Clinton’s 1992 inaugural.

Angelou’s reading was the first African American woman to present a poem at an inauguration.

Barack Obama presented Angelou with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010. She was also the recipient of the Literarian Award 2013, an honorary National Book Award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the literary world.

American Women Quarters features Wilma Mannkiller, Cherokee Nation’s first female principal chief. Adelina Oleo-Warren is also a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement. Sally Ride was an astronaut and physicist and the first American woman into space.