With refusal to enter the fray associated with whether cannabis is or isn’t a gateway drug… do you know activist, author, and all-around accomplished woman, Maya Angelou, imbibed during her late teens and early twenties?
Introduced to recreational while working at a bar, she fondly recalled its ability to enhance four of the five senses (taste, sound, smell, and touch) in the second installment of her autobiography, Gather Together in My Name, initially published in 1974.
A self-described disciplined Toker, she was well-versed in the vernacular practiced by consumers during the 1940s and described its access in Black ghettos as being slightly more difficult to obtain than rationed whiskey. Later at the behest of her presumed common-law husband, she briefly used cocaine but was dissuaded from shooting heroin with another lover after he suggested that she had a higher calling.
The recipient of more than fifty honorary degrees, three Grammy awards, a Presidential Medal of Arts, and the Lincoln Medal, she authored autobiographies, essays, novels, plays, and poetry, and produced plays, movies, and television shows over the course of her career.
She was working on an additional autobiography about her experiences with national and world leaders when she died at age 86.
Other interesting facts about Maya Angelou:
Rumored cocktail: Sherry.
Began life as Marguerite Annie Johnson.
Survived being sexually assaulted and raped.
Marched alongside Gloria Steinem for women’s rights.
Was the first Black woman featured on the U.S. Quarter.
Was encouraged to write by James Baldwin and Robert Loomis.
Was the second poet and the first woman to recite at a presidential inauguration.
Was personally acquainted with Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. DuBois.
Was an outspoken advocate in defense of civil and human rights, including marriage equality.
Was an editor and the only woman employed by The Arab Observer during its publication (1960 -1966).
Thanks for reading,
I lived on the SAME street for years that MAYA ANGELOU grew up on. HICKORY Street in St. Louis.
I loved those nuggets!! Thank you, for sharing them. She couldn't have been any more fabulous, but she is.