WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — In the quiet bookstore at Wake Forest University, student Mazella Sloan reads out lines from her favorite Maya Angelou poem, “Phenomenal Women.” With a song-like cheer of sass and empowerment, the rhyming lines begin:
“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size.”
“Isn’t that awesome?” Sloan says.
Angelou, 86, died Wednesday. It was the first day of lectures for the summer classes at Wake Forest, the poet and American Studies professor’s creative and academic home.
“I felt like she was describing me and her, and it made me feel like she was talking about me,” said the rising junior from Laurel Hill. “Every woman thinks she has flaws, but every woman is phenomenal.”
Angelou was known throughout the world as a literary pioneer and champion of civil rights. At Wake Forest University and in Winston-Salem, where she lived, students and professors remembered her as a hero on campus, a gracious mentor and friend, a warm hostess, and a beloved and inspirational teacher.
