The USPS released a Gwendolyn Brooks commemorative postage stamp in 2012. Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917–December 3, 2000) was a poet, author, and teacher from the United States. Her writing frequently dealt with the genuine joys and sorrows of regular people in her society. She also expressed concern about racial injustice. Brooks's work was influential in the development of Black American poetry. She taught at Howard University for several years and had an impact on a new generation of poets who were involved with the Black Arts Movement. She also wrote essays on African-American history and culture which are considered classics in their fields. In addition to teaching, Brooks published three books of poems during her lifetime. The first collection, We Wear the Mask, was published when she was only twenty-one years old. It included many poems that would later appear in her other volumes. Her second book, Life To Don't Worry He'll Run The World, was awarded the Yale Younger Poets Prize. This book showed how deeply ingrained racism was in American society through Brooks' eyes. The third and most famous volume is An Army of One, which was nominated for the National Book Award. This book contains poems that speak directly to the issues that concerned Brooks throughout her life - racism, war, poverty, and beauty. In 1962, Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She was only thirty years old.