- Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to be included on a US quarter.
- She is also the first woman to be featured in the US Mint's American Women Quarters Program.
- The program will feature up to five women each year focusing on women from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.
Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to be featured on a US quarter, according to the US Mint.
Coins features Angelou — the celebrated American writer, social activist and author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" — with her arms spread open and are being shipped out now, according to the Mint.
Angelou's quarter makes her not only the first Black woman on a quarter, but the first woman to kick off the US Mint's American Women Quarters Program that launches in 2022.
"Each 2022 quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments being celebrated throughout this historic coin program," said Mint Deputy Director Ventris C. Gibson. "Maya Angelou, featured on the reverse of this first coin in the series, used words to inspire and uplift."
According to the US Mint, the program "celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of our country" and will wrap up in 2025.
Each year, the Mint will issue up to five new quarters featuring famous American women on the backs. George Washington's face will still be on the opposite side of each quarter.
Other women that will be featured on US quarters in 2022 include Dr. Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, Nina Otero-Warren, and Anna May Wong, according to the US Mint. All of the women featured in the program will be from "ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds," the US Mint said.
Angelou is "exactly the type of leader I had in mind when Senator Fischer, Representative Lee, and I wrote our bipartisan legislation to create a series of quarters honoring the contributions of American women, said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Senate sponsor of the bill.
"This coin will ensure generations of Americans learn about Maya Angelou's books and poetry that spoke to the lived experience of Black women," she continued