before #blackgirlmagic was a thing, maya angelou lived it

Through her poetry, essays, and activism, Maya Angelou empowered girls and women of color to stand firmly within themselves, proud of their womanhood and intersecting blackness. With her breakthrough memoir ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’, which chronicled her childhood, Angelou showed the world how strength of character and the literary arts can help someone transcend abuse, trauma, and racism. Her incredibly rich life and background as an actor, sex worker, fry cook, activist, shaped her soulful perspective which emanated light and positivity into the universe. Dr. Angelou’s literary contributions ignited the increase of black feminist literature, from the 1970s onward, her voice guiding generations of black femmes (and black creatives in general) to come. Today would have been her 89th birthday.