ROANOKE, Va. – As we celebrate Black History Month, a local radio station is giving out pieces of history.
On Wednesday, the Vibe radio station handed out Maya Angelou coins in the Roanoke and Lynchburg area. Angelou, an American author, poet and Civil Rights activist, is the first African American woman to be featured on the U.S. quarter.
“This quarter to me is priceless. I was just walking around taking care of business and then I walked up on this. Sometimes you need a pat on your shoulder and this was that pat on your shoulder,” said Tamekia Tolliver, of Roanoke.
Those with the radio station hoped that people will hold onto the piece of Maya Angelou for generations to come.
“I am just humbled to be able to share this little part of history with everyone in the Roanoke-Lynchburg area. That’s the reason we have chosen to go to historic places to hand the coins out to the people so they can have a piece of history too. Not just to use for every day but something that they can down for future generations because that’s the only way that our stories will be told is by word of mouth and we have to be the truth-tellers,” said Vibe program director and afternoon drive host, Tim Steele.
If you missed Wednesday’s event, there will be more quarter giveaways later this week. On Thursday, the station will be at the African American Heritage Museum in Lynchburg, the Booker T. Washington Park in Roanoke on Friday and at Miller Park in Lynchburg on Saturday.