Maya Angelou appreciation 'The ache for home lives in all of us'

Maya Angelou said she had thousands of daughters. I wonder if she ever knew really how many

Maya Angelou said often that although she gave birth to one son, she had thousands of daughters. "I have daughters who are black and white, Asian and Spanish-speaking, and native American," she said. "I have daughters who are fat and thin, pretty and plain, gay and straight. I have all sorts of daughters who I just claim. And they claim me."

I wonder if Angelou ever knew really how many girls who were told about her, named after her, or like me, growing up in a suburban corner of England, clinging fiercely to her books and even when not reading them, inhaling the spirit of her struggle from the titles alone: A Song Flung Up to Heaven, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name.

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