Gather Together in My Name is the second of seven memoirs by Maya
Angelou (pictured). Published in 1974, the book begins just after the
events of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and follows Angelou from the
ages of 17 to 19. Written three years after Caged Bird, the book
"depicts a single mother's slide down the social ladder into poverty and
crime." She expands upon many themes that she started discussing in her
first autobiography, including motherhood and family, racism, identity,
education and literacy. Gather Together received mostly positive
reviews; it was not as critically acclaimed as Caged Bird, but was
recognized as being better written. The book's structure, consisting of
a series of episodes tied together by theme and content, parallels the
chaos of adolescence, which some critics felt makes it an unsatisfactory
sequel. The title, taken from the Bible, conveys how one black woman
lived in white-dominated American society after World War II.
(This article is part of a featured topic: Maya Angelou
autobiographies.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Maya_Angelou_autobiographies>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1838:
The Jesuits' Maryland province contracted to sell 272 slaves to
buyers in Louisiana in one of the largest slave sales in American
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Jesuit_slave_sale>
1953:
Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies for
passing nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg>
1965:
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, the commander of the South Vietnam Air
Force, was appointed prime minister at the head of a military regime.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_Cao_K%E1%BB%B3>
1987:
Basque separatist group ETA detonated a car bomb at the
Hipercor shopping centre in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipercor_bombing>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
priceless:
1. So precious as not to be obtainable or sold at any price; invaluable.
2. (figuratively)
3. Held in high regard; treasured.
4. (informal) Absurd, ridiculous.
5. (informal) Very amusing, hilarious.
6. (informal, often ironic) Excellent, fantastic, wonderful.
7. (literally, uncommon) Without a price assigned.
8. (obsolete) Of no value; valueless, worthless.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/priceless>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and
subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day
of profound — in my view — profound weight and profound power. A
day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery
took on the country and continues to take — what I’ve long called
“America’s original sin.” At the same time, I also remember the
extraordinary capacity to heal, and to hope, and to emerge from the most
painful moments and a bitter, bitter version of ourselves, but to make a
better version of ourselves.
--Joe Biden
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Biden>
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