By John Ikani
A new US quarter featuring the late Maya Angelou went into circulation Monday, the US Mint announced, making the legendary poet and activist the first Black woman ever to appear on the coin.
The Angelou coin is one of five new quarter designs that will run this year through 2025, while George Washington’s likeness will remain on the other side, the US Mint recently announced.
Last year, the Mint announced it would be including several notable figures in its American Women Quarters Program, including Angelou; Chinese American film star Anna May Wong; the first US woman in space, Sally Ride; and Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to be elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation as well as suffrage movement leader Adelina Otero-Warren.
“It is my honor to present our Nation’s first circulating coins dedicated to celebrating American women and their contributions to American history,” Mint Deputy Director Ventris C. Gibson said in a news release.
“Each 2022 quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments being celebrated throughout this historic coin program.
“Maya Angelou, featured on the reverse of this first coin in the series, used words to inspire and uplift.”
Angelou rose to international prominence after the publication of her groundbreaking autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” with its unflinching account of rape and racism in the segregated South.
At age 7, Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, who was later beaten to death in an assault that some believed was carried out by Angelou’s uncles. The trauma of the rape and her assailant’s death left Angelou mute for six years. She began writing during that silent period.
She died in 2014 aged 86. The prolific African-American writer was known for her lyrical prose and regal speaking voice.
“Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country – what we value, and how we’ve progressed as a society,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
“I’m very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America’s most remarkable women, including Maya Angelou.”
The recipient of more than 30 honorary degrees, Angelou read “On the Pulse of Morning” at the 1992 inauguration of former President Bill Clinton.
Angelou’s reading marked the first time an African American woman wrote and presented a poem at a presidential inauguration.
In 2010, Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she was the 2013 recipient of the Literarian Award, an honorary National Book Award for contributions to the literary community.
