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The ceremony at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.,
included Angelou's only son, Guy Johnson, First Lady Michelle
Obama, media magnate Oprah Winfrey and U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder.
Longtime friend Winfrey said the poet would have laughed out
loud at the news that she was going to be on a postal stamp.
Angelou's groundbreaking 1969 memoir, "I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings," earned her international acclaim for its unflinching
account of rape and racism in the segregated South.
Angelou was 86 when she died at her home in May last year,
following years of health problems.
"Today, Dr. Angelou receives the Postal Service's highest honor,
the commemoration of her image on a United States postage stamp
and yet her life, so meaningful and varied, can hardly be
contained within the four corners of a stamp," Postmaster
General Megan Brennan said at the ceremony.
Atlanta artist Ross Rossin's 2013 portrait of Angelou was used
for the stamp. It is part of the Smithsonian National Portrait
Gallery's collection and will be on display until Nov. 1.
Angelou, who also was a singer and actress, became one of the
most dynamic voices in 20th-century U.S. literature. Her life
story entailed overcoming rape and racism in the South, finding
her voice after several years of not speaking as a result of her
abuse, and going on to write more than 30 books.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson and Elvina Nawaguna; Editing by Ted
Botha)
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