Maya Angelou

Photo from Miss Angelou's official web site. (http://www.mayaangelou.com/)

To say that Maya Angelou is multi-talented in an understatement. Her extensive list of accomplishments goes on to include: poet, author, songwriter, singer, conductor, actor, dancer, playwright, stage & screen producer, director, historian, and civil rights activist. The level of achievement Miss Angelou has reached, for any one of these professions, is profound, but when you add all of her successes together, she becomes a true legend.

The beautiful, Miss Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She spent most of her childhood living in Stamps, Arkansas. Miss Angelou and her brother, Bailey, were very close siblings. She says, "Bailey looped his language around his tongue" (www.rockyhill.org). Language is the way that Miss Angelou has learned to communicate and express herself, so this quote about her brother is an example of the pride she exudes for him. Miss Angelou was raped at a very young age and became mute to hide the pain burning inside her soul. The perpetrator told her that he'd kill her dear little brother if she told anyone. She held onto the words while screaming inside. During this silent period, she watched and listened to the vast world around her, always learning and becoming anew.

Maya Angelou

One of Miss Angelou's quotes, which relates to the pain in her youth is "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it" (http://womentshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/qu_maya_angelou.htm). These are profound words from a woman who has known horror and success, all from the same life experiences. The poetry, books, and stories she tells of her experiences are powerful lessons of striving to be self-directed and focused on living a life for humanity as a whole.

When I first discovered Miss Angelou, she was on the Oprah Winfrey Show. They were reading a Christmas poem together. I was in awe of her grace, her beauty, her warmth, and her passion. This woman embodies all of the traits and characteristics I strive to achieve within my own life. She is determined to make the world a better place. Oprah says, during her Legends Weekend, "Maya Angelou has given the world beauty, all she asks in return is that we use our imaginations to create a better world" (http://www.oprah.com/presents/2006/legends/legend/legend_main.jhtml). Miss Angelou strongly exhibits the dedicated trait of caring for the human race as a whole. She is kind, compassionate, and she is grateful, forgiving, and helps others in need through her thought provoking words. Miss Angelou has influenced so many people during her lifetime with her fabulous words and creations from her heart. She has spoken at Presidential Inauguration ceremonies, dutifully served on national commission boards, and has even become the first black women director in Hollywood.

Miss Angelou at the Discovery 2000 Conference

Miss Angelou has earned a slew of awards and personal celebrations, too many to list. To list them all seems frivolous, something Miss Angelou would shush. Instead, it is better to use her own words as further inspirations for our souls, to further her cause of love and caring for all of humanity:

"The honorary duty of a human being is to love"

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning"

"Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it allows me to survive, and better than that, to thrive with passion, compassion, and style"

"Nothing will work unless you do"

References/links:

http://www.charactercounts.org/defsix.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou

http://wic.org/bio/mangelou.htm