Treasury begins distribution of quarter featuring poet, activist Maya Angelou

Her first memoir, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", narrates her life up until the age of 17 and she rose to national prominence. She worked with leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. and was the northern leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

At the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993, she read her poem, "On the pulse of Morning," becoming the first Black poet to write and perform a poem at a presidential inauguration. The Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded to Angelou by Barack Obama.

There is a push for more representation of Black Americans on U.S. currency. The Obama administration first proposed to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with a woman in 2020. The efforts to replace Jackson were halted by the Trump administration as they were called "pure political correctness" by the former President.

Jen Psaki said the administration would aim to speed up the process of getting Tubman's likeness on the $20 bill after President Joe Biden's inauguration.