Entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey, former Atlanta Mayor and UN Ambassador Andrew Young and commentator/activist Rev Al Sharpton are among the notables scheduled to join US postal officials for the upcoming launch of a new stamp honoring the late Maya Angelou. Atlanta-based artist Ross Rossin, whose portrait of Angelou was used for the stamp image, will attend as well.
MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry will serve as emcee.
Postmaster General Megan Brennan will dedicated the Maya Angelou Forever stamp in Washington, DC. at 11 a.m. on April 7 at the Warner Theatre, 513 13th St., NW.
The event is free and open to the public. The public is asked to RSVP as soon as possible as seating is not guaranteed. Please RSVP at usps.com/mayaforever or by calling 866-268-3243 before 5 p.m. ET April 3. Each RSVP is limited to two (2) seats. Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
If you go they suggest the hashtag #MayaForever.
Also scheduled to attend the ceremony will be Angelou’s grandson Colin Johnson; Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL); poet Sonia Sanchez; author and journalist Sophia Nelson; Howard University English professor Eleanor Traylor; poet and civil rights activist Nikki Giovanni.
Angelou, an acclaimed poet, actress, author, journalist and civil rights activist, died at 86 last year. Her life and works inspired the recent production "Considering Maya," at the Marietta Center for Performing Arts.
Rossin's portrait of Angelou, a 4 feet-squared oil-on-canvas masterpiece, is part of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's collection, where it will be on display through Nov. 1. The stamp features a quote from Angelou: “A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
Art director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Md. designed the stamp.
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