Maya Angelou Becomes First Black Woman To Appear On US Quarter!
The United States Mint said it has begun shipping out the first quarters featuring trailblazing American women, starting with poet, writer, and activist Maya Angelou, the first Black woman to appear on the quarter.
The quarter design depicts Angelou with outstretched arms while a bird reflects behind her with rising sunbeams, images inspired by her poetry. Part of the American Women Quarters Program, the Angelou coin is one of four expected to be shipped this year through 2025, USA Today reports.
“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 press 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, who died at 86 in 2014, was widely recognized as part of the Civil Rights Movement and working alongside fellow activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Along with her great work, the poet made history as the first Black poet to write and read a poem at a presidential inauguration. “On the Pulse of Morning” was for President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993. She was also given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian awards in the U.S., in 2011 by then-President Barack Obama.