Remembering Maya Angelou: A Portion of Her 2004 “Between the Lines” Interview with Valerie Jackson

Dr. Maya Angelou, addressing the 1992 graduating class at Spelman College in Atlanta.
Dr. Maya Angelou, addressing the 1992 graduating class at Spelman College in Atlanta. – CREDIT SPELMAN COLLEGE

Poet, author, activist, and actress Maya Angelou died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86.  Dr. Angelou had deep ties to Atlanta, among other places.  In April, 2004, she sat down with Valerie Jackson for an interview for the WABE program, “Between the Lines.”  In this segment, Dr. Angelou talked about how she emerged from her grief over the assassinations of her friends Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., by summoning the spirit that infuses one of her best-known poems, “Still I Rise.”  (In the expanded version, you can hear Dr. Angelou recite “Still I Rise.”)