A private memorial service has been held to honor US poet, author and civil rights champion Maya Angelou. The memorial service was held at Wake Forest university where Angelou had taught for 30 years.
A private memorial service has been held to honor US poet, author and civil rights champion Maya Angelou.
Angelou was best known for her 1969 autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," about growing up in the segregated South. that pioneering work helped give black women writers a literary voice and became a reading list staple in American classrooms. She was also chosen to read a poem at former US president Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993.
Angelou died at home on May 28 at the age of 86. The service was limited to family and friends but streamed live online for public viewing. First Lady Michelle Obama and former US President Bill Clinton were among the speakers paying tribute to her.
"She taught us that it is OK to be your regular old self, whatever that is. Your poor self, your broken self, your brilliant, bold, phenomenal self. That was Maya Angelou's reach. She touched me, she touched all of you, she touched people all across the globe, including a young white woman from Kansas who named her daughter after Maya and raised her son to be the first black President of the United States," said US First Lady Michelle Obama.
"her great gift in her action-packed life was, she was always paying attention. And by the time she started writing her books and her poetry what she was basically doing was calling our attention to the things she’d been paying attention to and she did it with a clarity and a power that will wash over people as long as there is a written and spoken word," said former US president Bill Clinton.
