About two minutes after the news broke yesterday morning, I saw the post on Facebook sharing the word of Maya Angelou’s passing. As I read the report, silent tears streaming down my face, I realized how connected we have all become through use of the internet and all of the modern day media that broadcasts news just as it happens, internationally.
I felt the loss of a dear friend as I watched the various videos of her speaking, reading her poems, so filled with wisdom and inspiration. I posted one of her quotes just the day before, never imagining that her life was nearing its end.
Maya Angelou was a self made woman…..against all odds. She clearly had the courage to forge her own path and find her voice. That voice was the source of solace, hope and determination for all those who followed her career and writings.
“When you get….give. When you learn…teach,” Maya lived those words, making the world her classroom as she wrote about current issues, calling for PEACE for honesty, fair play, kindness and justice. She leaves behind a legacy of excellence for women everywhere who face life’s challenges. We come together with sadness as news of her passing spreads. We must continue to speak and share her words, especially the word PEACE which she entreated us all to speak loudly.
One of her poems touched my life at a time when I needed guidance and hope. “Still I Rise” is a poem of strength and determination to continue to rise, no matter what the odds. I share her words here with you today and ask that we all remember Maya Angelou, that we follow her lead to live a life that shines with the passion we have for living, just as she did. Rest in peace, dear lady.
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
2 Responses
-
Harold Michael Harvey Says:
I rise.
-
Melissa Says:
I’m right beside you!
