Civil rights leaders in Georgia Wednesday are mourning the passing of author and poet Maya Angelou. She died at the age of 86.

Charles Steele Jr., president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference says in the 1960’s, Angelou became the Northern Coordinator of the SCLC.

He says she became very close with Coretta Scott King and ,like her, focused on the role of women in the civil rights movement.

“Maya Angelou was also concerned about the women and the gender issues of not only the movement but in society.”

Steele says the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was instrumental in fundraising and promoting the civil rights organization’s mission.

“Anytime you have an articulate person with the type of voice and commitment and spirit that Maya Angelou had, it would get the attention of people.”

Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Tags: Civil Rights, Maya Angelou, Charles Steele Jr.