This Just In: Hillary Clinton Recites Maya Angelou to 11-Year-Old Girl

Literary activist and aspiring politician Marley Dias, 11, who collects representations of black girls in literature, got one of the most candid interviews with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, for Elle -- leave it to a precocious kid!

Marley had herself wanted to be the first female president, but wrote, "If someone had to do it before I could, I'm happy that it will be her. It's really no problem."

Getting down to business, Marley asked Clinton which piece of literature she first saw herself in. Clinton said the character she first identified with was (lesbian icon) Jo March in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Clinton said Jo found ways to "live the life she wanted, even though it wasn't what society expected of her. I loved that she wasn't afraid to chart her own course."

Clinton then told Marley her favorite black female author was Maya Angelou, before reciting a stanza to Marley. "Do not be wedded forever / To fear, yoked eternally / To brutishness. / The horizon leans forward, / Offering you space to place new steps of change."

"Isn't that wonderful?," Clinton asked.

Marley asked Clinton about her insecurities, which of course lead to a discussion of her hair (ponytails and penchant for headbands included).

It was my first week of high school, and I was excited and nervous. At that time, I wore my hair in a ponytail or held back with a headband. When I saw the older girls with their hair in little bobs, I thought that looked so much more grown-up, so I begged my mother to take me to a real beauty parlor to get my hair cut. Our neighbor recommended a man who had a small shop behind a grocery store, and he got distracted talking to my mother and hacked off a huge chunk of my hair! I was mortified. So I tried to fix it by wearing a fake ponytail to school. And then a friend of mine accidentally pulled it off in front of everyone.

At the time, Clinton felt it might have been the worst moment of her life. If only she knew what was to come.

I certainly remember what it was like to be your age and be so worried about what people thought of me. And I'm glad I didn't know back then that I had a whole life ahead of me of people commenting on my hair!

Full disclosure: The Advocate has an entire tag called "Hillary Clinton Headband Test," because the 1990s were a thing that happened. Still don't know what the test actually is.

Clinton went on to tell Marley about the time she lost an election for class president but signed up to do all the work anyway.

One of my opponents even told me I was "really stupid" if I thought a girl could be elected president. Fine. But then the boy who won asked me to be the chair of the Organizations Committee. This meant that he got to be president, but I had to do most of the work.

I said yes anyway -- and it turned out to be a lot of fun, because I got to plan all the events I would have pushed for as president. (One of them was a mock presidential debate, if you can believe that!) In the end, I've always found credit isn't just something you take -- it's something people give you when they see how hard you're working.

What an amazingly devoted masochist! Also, inspirational.

I would say that when you have a big dream or you're trying to solve a big problem, there will always be people who tell you that you can't. Here's my advice: don't listen. Keep striving for your goals, and remember that it's good to be ambitious. There's nothing wrong with knowing what you want and going after it.

Word on the street is Clinton wants to be elected president, and apparently she hasn't given up on that dream since grade school.