​​Clazzical Notes will observe Black History Month with a tribute to an icon of our era:  Maya Angelou.
 
An unremarkable beginning of a life would seemingly shape the destiny of Marguerite Johnson.  Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928, she experienced all the unfortunate challenges of too many Black families:  poverty, her parents’ divorce, relocation to her grandmother’s house, and a brutal rape followed by personal trauma and an aftermath leading to five years of absolute silence.