Welcome to Karen Hunter's awesome.

I'm Karen Hunter.

Today is May 28th.

And on this day, in 2014,

Marguerite Annie Johnson, known as Maya Angelou, may transition.

And I want to spend some time today. I'm going to play a clip of something that I saw on Instagram, which is the entree into having a discussion about this great woman.

But I first met her in a book called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

I had to be 11 or 12 when I bought the book and no one bought it for me.

I used to get an allowance and I would go to the bookstore.

There was a Barnes & Noble.

I would ride my bike there and every week go get books.

It's what I did. I would hold myself up in the room,

devour the book, and it was how I spent a lot of my childhood. And I don't know why I picked up this book. I think it was because it was about a little girl. Even though this little girl had

an experience that I never had that I couldn't necessarily relate to,

I was fascinated by a little girl that was, that trauma led her to become mute and then how she

eventually found her voice. And being a child that couldn't shed up, I mean, that was on my report

card where I needed improvement.

It was in the talking area because I could not be quiet in class. I was always a little bit

disruptive, maybe a lot, a bit disruptive, but always vociferous and garrulous. To read about a little

girl that didn't talk, but had so much to say, was empowering. So I encourage people,

whatever your age, to read, I know why the cage birds things. And I might have been too

young to read the book and really understand it. I might need to reread it as an adult. But I

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