Wednesday, February 25, 2015

US Postal Service Honors Maya Angelou With Forever Stamp


Last Spring, when the beloved Maya Angelou passed, Twitter campaigned for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to honor the iconic poet with a stamp to immortalize her heart-touching legacy for years to come. Fast forward to the present and Ms. Angelou’s got herself that stamp! “Stamps have featured people for their notable accomplishments in the arts. They have included American heroes, but one is missing. Maya Angelou was influential in so many ways,” the petition wrote.
The U.S. Postal Service announced that it will honor the legendary Maya Angelou with a “Forever” stamp. Dr. Angelou passed away last year at the age of 86 and is best known for her memoir I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
“Maya Angelou inspired our nation through a life of advocacy and through her many contributions to the written and spoken word,” said Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan. “Her wide-ranging achievements as a playwright, poet, memoirist, educator, and advocate for justice and equality enhanced our culture.”
The Postal Service will preview the stamp and provide details on the date and location of the first-day-of-issuance ceremony at a later date.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Angelou was a singer, actress, poet, author, director and screenwriter over the course of her long and illustrious career. Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Mo. but primarily raised in Stamps, Ark. Her early years were full of turbulence, and she eventually moved to Oakland, California with her mother at 14. From there, everything about Angelou’s life would change.
Angelou’s life was rich and adventurous. The beloved author, poet, actress and champion of equality, studied theater and dance as a young girl before becoming San Francisco’s first Black cable car conductor. Beyond that feat, Angelou was a single teen mother raising her son yet still chasing her dreams of becoming an entertainer.
Angelou later toured throughout Europe with the Porgy & Bess opera production, and later recorded her first album in 1957 titled Calypso Lady. Although Angelou never attended college, she has been awarded countless honorary degrees and taught at the university level.
A petition over at the Ultra Violet site called for a commemoration by the USPS. There hasn’t been any word if the campaign was the reason why the stamp was slated for approval.
The USPS has not released artwork of the stamp as of yet and there is no timetable for its official release.

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