Today, the remarkable Maya Angelou turns 80. Let's take a few minutes to join the throng in celebrating the life of this phenomenal woman.

I do not use “woman” casually, as Dr. Angelou has made clear that she believes the term to be more than an indication of gender.

“There is a world of difference between being a woman and being an old female. If you're born a girl, grow up, and live long enough, you can become an old female. But, to become a woman is a serious matter. A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies.”

She wrote those words about Hillary Clinton, whom she steadfastly supports. But it takes one to know one. And Maya Angelou certainly has been a good steward of her own time and space, encouraging us all at every turn to press on, to speak out, to rise up. … continue reading

Tonight (or whenever your local affiliate decides to air it), African-American Lives 2 premieres on PBS. The series "traces the ancestry of famous black people as far back as the written record allows, and then a little farther, thanks to the scientific magic of DNA analysis." This is a sequel; the first series was in 2006. Both were directed by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The lives that are examined include those of Tina Turner, Maya Angelou and Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

African-American Lives 2 considers how identity evolves and how the past informs the present. As Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times notes in his review,

... the underlying narrative is one of accomplishment and how a people whose identity had been purposely stripped from them managed to create new identities for themselves, looking both to the future and a mythic past. ("Nobody wants their history to begin here," says Gomes of the search for African roots.) And Gates is less interested in the lingering negative socio-economic effects of slavery than in the way that even successful slave-descended African Americans carry that fact inside them.

Visit the official website for more, including fascinating historical timelines.

You know how the conversations get started. You're cavorting with your friends when someone decides to take things in a direction that's a bit less lighthearted and a bit more thought-provoking. A game of 20 questions goes from silly to sincere in the blink of an eye. When the tone shifts, I like to bring up the subject of women I'd like to meet. I think it's enlightening to know who my friends would like to sit down with for coffee and a bit of chit-chat if they could choose any woman, living or dead, for their own little game of 20 questions.

My problem with such questions is that I would have a tough time narrowing it down to just one. I love women who break barriers or defy odds. I adore women who tell it like it is without apology. My standard choice has generally been Maya Angelou.

Much as I like that choice, I decided the other day that I needed to expand my horizons, branch out to new territory, find another bright, witty woman I don't know with whom to have a little sit-down. After scouring the net for likely candidates — in a completely non-stalkerish way — I learned something important. I don't know enough women. What I mean is, there are amazing women out there, in all kinds of places, and I had never heard of them before. And that's just wrong. So I wanted to let you in on some of the amazing women I discovered.

First, you should know what got me started down this road in the first place. There's a little slide-show article over at msn.com called "10 amazing women you've never heard of" (thanks Mo!). It's an outstanding list of smart, beautiful women including Nobel prize winners, doctors, teachers, and the first plus-sized super-model, Emme Aronson. It includes women like Safiye Amjan, an Afghan woman who defied the Taliban to continue educating girls in her homeland. It includes women like Waris Dirie, a Somalian woman who has led the crusade to end female genital mutilation after suffering the atrocity of it herself. It includes women like Kelly Perkins, a heart transplant recipient who climbs mountains both literal and figurative. It's a list you should definitely check out.

It's also a list that leaves a lot of room for additions. Here are five women who would be on my list. I'd love to engage any of them in a little coffee talk. … continue reading