MAYA ANGELOU, DEAD AT 86

US author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86 in North Carolina.

She’d been suffering from ill health for several weeks.

In a career that spanned more than 5 decades, she raised cultural issues facing African-Americans in a manner that resonated with millions of people.

Rebecca Foster reports:

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Maya Angelou was an American original….for more than 5 decades raising cultural issues facing African-Americans in a manner that resonated with millions.

For more than 50 years she won plaudits and honors for her writings and poetry about her upbringing in the American South, and the challenges faced in modern times by African Americans.

Last year, she told Time Magazine she couldn't imagine a time when she wouldn't be writing.

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She read one of her poems at Bill Clinton's inauguration and was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.

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One of her most famous poems, " Still I Rise", was published in 1978 and speaks of the strength and resilience of her community.

In Maya Angelou’s own voice, here’s an excerpt.

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Her groundbreaking memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, made history as one of the first nonfiction best-sellers by an African-American woman.

A key figure in America's civil rights movement, Dr. Maya Angelou talked about the struggle.

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And she also talked of the abuse she suffered as a child.

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Maya Angleou’s death comes less than a week after she announced she wouldn’t attend the Major League Basketball Beacon Awards Luncheon, where she was to be honored, due to health problems

Her last tweet was 5 days ago. She said, “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”