Maya Angelou’s 90th birthday celebrated by Google

Maya Angelou would have turned 90 today, but unfortunately for the world, she passed away in 2014 at the age of 86. The prolific poet and writer is being honored today by Internet monster Google on its homepage with a likeness of her as today’s doodle. Along with the likeness is an animated reading of her most famous poem, “Still I Rise,” featuring the voices of “Oprah Winfrey, America Ferrera and Alicia Keys, as well as her son, Guy Johnson. “Maya Angelou is not what she has done of written or spoken, it’s how she did it all,” Winfrey told Google. “She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fiery, fierce grace and abounding love.” This April also marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and each year until her death, Angelou sent flowers to King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, on April 4. In addition to an inspiring poet, Angelou spent much of her life as a champion to Black women. She was actually a dear friend of the Kings and was worked for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. One of her books, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” was a best seller, making her the first Black woman to accomplish that feat in nonfiction. During her lifetime, she received many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and even Grammys.