The Heart of a Woman (1981) is the fourth of seven autobiographies by American writer Maya Angelou (pictured). She recounts events in her life between 1957 and 1962, as she travels to California, New York, Cairo and Ghana, and raises her teenage son. She becomes a published author active in the US civil rights movement, and is romantically involved with a South African freedom fighter. The book explores Angelou's theme of motherhood, and ends as she looks forward to newfound independence and freedom when her son leaves for college. Although most critics consider Angelou's first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings more favorably, The Heart of a Woman has received positive reviews and was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1997. The title is taken from a poem by Harlem Renaissance poet Georgia Douglas Johnson. "Faithful to the ongoing themes of survival, sense of self, and continuing education," according to critic Lyman B. Hagen, "The Heart of a Woman moves its central figures to a point of full personhood".

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heart_of_a_Woman

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1949:

Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO

1968:

American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

1973:

The World Trade Center in New York City was officially dedicated, about a year after the second of the building complex's twin towers was completed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_(1973%E2%80%932001)

1976:

Norodom Sihanouk abdicated from the role of leader of Cambodia and was arrested by the Khmer Rouge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk

2002:

The Angolan government and UNITA rebels signed a peace treaty, agreeing to follow the 1994 Lusaka Protocol and ending the decades-long Angolan Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

logarithmancy: (obsolete, rare) Divination using logarithms. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/logarithmancy

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We never get anywhere in this world without the forces of history and individual persons in the background helping us to get there. If you have the privilege of a fine education, well, you have it because somebody made it possible. If you have the privilege to gain wealth and a bit of the world’s goods, well, you have it because somebody made it possible. So don’t boast, don’t be arrogant. You, at that moment, rise out of your self-centeredness to the type of living that makes you an integrated personality.   --Martin Luther King, Jr. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.