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The acclaimed poet, writer and author of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings has died at the age of 86

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In this June 25, 2011 file photo, Maya Angelou speaks during the 9th Annual Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Luncheon at the Westin Charlotte Hotel in uptown Charlotte, N.C.Maureen A. Coyle/The Associated Press

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In this Feb. 15, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama kisses author and poet Maya Angelou after awarding her the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press

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Amiri Baraka and Maya Angelou dance on the 89th birthday of the poet Langston Hughes at the The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where Hughes' ashes were buried beneath the floor, in New York, Feb. 22, 1991.CHESTER HIGGINS JR/The New York Times

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In this file photo released by Nasdaq, Oprah Winfrey, right, and Maya Angelou appear at the ringing of the Nasdaq opening bell in New York, Sept. 25, 2006.Rob Tannenbaum/The Associated Press

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Maya Angelou at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Oct. 24, 2010.TRAVIS DOVE/The New York Times

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In this April 18, 2008 file photo, then U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, speaks as poet Maya Angelou reacts during a campaign stop at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.Chuck Burton/The Associated Press

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Oprah Winfrey laughs with poet Maya Angelou during the taping of "Oprah's Surprise Spectacular" in Chicago in this May 17, 2011 file photo.JOHN GRESS/Reuters

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U.S. poet Maya Angelou speaks during a ceremony to honor South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu with the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding Award in Washington in this November 21, 2008 file photo.JIM YOUNG/Reuters

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Poet and activist Maya Angelou speaks before delegates during the second night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts in this July 27, 2004 file photo.GARY HERSHORN/Reuters

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In this May 20, 2010, file photo, author Maya Angelou socializes during a garden party at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C.Nell Redmond/The Associated Press

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In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, poet Maya Angelou smiles at an event in Washington.Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press

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