• Maya Angelou died in 2014 aged 86.
    Maya Angelou died in 2014 aged 86.
  • Media mogul Russell Simmons escorts poet Maya Angelou to her seat at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial on the National Mall in Washington on November 13, 2006 file photo. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
    Media mogul Russell Simmons escorts poet Maya Angelou to her seat at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial on the National Mall in Washington on November 13, 2006 file photo. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
  • US President Bill Clinton, right, congratulates Dr Maya Angelou, left, after presenting her with the National Medal of Arts during ceremonies at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC on December 20, 2000. Stephen Jaffe / AFP
    US President Bill Clinton, right, congratulates Dr Maya Angelou, left, after presenting her with the National Medal of Arts during ceremonies at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC on December 20, 2000. Stephen Jaffe / AFP
  • Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, holds the hand of Dr Maya Angelou during a conversation in front of an audience at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC during a campaign stop on April 18, 2008. Robyn Beck / AFP
    Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, holds the hand of Dr Maya Angelou during a conversation in front of an audience at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC during a campaign stop on April 18, 2008. Robyn Beck / AFP
  • Coretta Scott King, left, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, and Maya Angelou speak to members of the media after visiting Betty Shabazz, the widow of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X, at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, NY on June 2, 1997. Jon Levy / AFP
    Coretta Scott King, left, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, and Maya Angelou speak to members of the media after visiting Betty Shabazz, the widow of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X, at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, NY on June 2, 1997. Jon Levy / AFP
  • Poet and activist Maya Angelou speaks before delegates during the second night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts on July 27, 2004. Gary Hershorn / Reuters
    Poet and activist Maya Angelou speaks before delegates during the second night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts on July 27, 2004. Gary Hershorn / Reuters
  • Oprah Winfrey, right, laughs with poet Maya Angelou during the taping of Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular in Chicago on May 17, 2011. John Gress / Reuters
    Oprah Winfrey, right, laughs with poet Maya Angelou during the taping of Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular in Chicago on May 17, 2011. John Gress / Reuters
  • Maya Angelou talks with reporters before giving a reading at the Abyssinian Development Corporation’s Tenth Annual Renaissance Day of Commitment Leadership Breakfast in Harlem, New York on June 15, 2004. Justin Lane / EPA
    Maya Angelou talks with reporters before giving a reading at the Abyssinian Development Corporation’s Tenth Annual Renaissance Day of Commitment Leadership Breakfast in Harlem, New York on June 15, 2004. Justin Lane / EPA
  • US president Barack Obama, centre, kisses Dr Maya Angelou, a prominent and celebrated author, poet, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, and civil rights activist after presenting to her the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, DC on February 15, 2011. Tim Sloan / AFP
    US president Barack Obama, centre, kisses Dr Maya Angelou, a prominent and celebrated author, poet, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, and civil rights activist after presenting to her the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, DC on February 15, 2011. Tim Sloan / AFP
  • Maya Angelou speaks during a ceremony to honour South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu with the J William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding Award in Washington on November 21, 2008. Jim Young / Reuters
    Maya Angelou speaks during a ceremony to honour South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu with the J William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding Award in Washington on November 21, 2008. Jim Young / Reuters

In pictures: Maya Angelou through the years

Olive Obina

May 29, 2014

  • English
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Famed poet, author and activist Maya Angelou, perhaps best known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, has passed away at the age of 86.

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