Maya Angelou

The most recent picture of Angelou (http://mayaangelou.com )

"Be not the slave of your own past-plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old". Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote perfectly describes Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou, poet and author, gained new wisdom and knowledge from her past. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but after her parents divorced, she moved to Stamps, Arkansas to live with her grandmother. "In Stamps, Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but she also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family, community, and culture" ("Maya Angelou -Biography"). From these experiences, her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was created, and it is now one of the most renowned books of our time. She possesses many traits that make her a hero; however, her courage, perseverance, and ability to work hard inspire people all around the world. Maya Angelou's literary works and passion for art showcased her courage, perseverance, and diligence. 

Angelou expressing her love for the arts (http://mayaangelou.com )

                       Maya Angelou needed courage to face challenges throughout her difficult childhood. Her childhood required courage because of the racism against African-Americans during that time: "If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat ... It is an unnecessary insult"("Maya Angelou"). Angelou's life in Stamps was packed with hardships that made anything else seem worthless. Angelou says "...being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat... It is an unnecessary insult" The "rust on the razor that threatens the throat" emphasizes that growing up in Stamps was hard enough as it was, but added the feeling of not being wanted was worse than the racism itself. Angelou's courage helped her go through "Economic hardship, murderous hate, and ingrained denigration..." ("Maya Angelou") and she knew that she could go endure anything because she had been through the worst. She was brave enough to try to achieve her dreams and do the things she loved, such as writing. She moved to New York to perform Broadway production and then she moved to Cairo, Egypt where she worked as an editor for various newspapers and magazines ("Maya Angelou- Biography"). Angelou moved wherever her new job, demanded, meaning she adapted to new homes, new people, and new cultures. She had the courage to move out of her comfort zone and pursue her love of writing. She was not afraid of rejection, so she put herself out there unflinchingly. Her courage made her a strong person who could handle anything that came her way.

Maya Angelou's biography about her past. (http://myhero.com)

       Maya Angelou's perseverance made her optimistic and allowed her to have a positive mindset when facing obstacles in her life. Her optimism helped her to learn from her experiences and to move on: "Maya later spent a disastrous summer vacation with her own father in Long Beach. After a physical attack by his girlfriend, she ran off and found shelter in a junkyard commune inhabited by a racially mixed group of homeless children" ("Maya Angelou"). Angelou was motivated, even when living in a junkyard, to make major changes to her life. She showed that the past teaches a memorable message; she doesn't waste her present on the past. By persevering, she used these experiences to gain knowledge and define her perspective about life. Angelou describes her rape at the age of eight a quote from the Bible: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" ("Maya Angelou"). The camel represents the man who raped her and the eye of the needle represents Angelou's innocence, if a camel were to try to fit through something as small as an eye of a needle it would shatter. Her shattered innocence gave her the perseverance that changed the way she looked at life and she used her new perspective to write I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Even at a young age, she was able to look at life in a different, more mature way. Even though all these terrible experiences happened in her childhood, they made her who she is as a person today. By persevering, Angelou learned that life is too short to waste time thinking about the past.

Smiling Maya Angelou (http://mayaangelou.com )

     Maya Angelou labored relentlessly for everything she accomplished in life. Especially when it came to her studies, Angelou who loved the arts and worked hard to pursue her passion: "As a teenager, Dr. Angelou's love for the arts won her a scholarship to study dance and drama at San Francisco's Labor School" ("Maya Angelou- Biography"). Angelou toiled tirelessly to earn a scholarship to go to school and study the subjects that she loved, even if it meant going to a labor school. Her love of arts motivated her to work hard; she showed that she can achieve anything she wanted. Angelou also was diligent even through the most difficult times during her life: "Later, with only a high school education and a baby to support, she took a succession of other jobs, as a cook in a Creole restaurant (which she knew nothing about), as a cocktail waitress, and as a madam for prostitutes ... she was a hard working, church-going, devoted and responsible mother" ("Maya Angelou"). Even though she never planned to be a young, single mother, she took on multiple jobs to take care of her son and still had time to enjoy the things she loved. Her dedication to become a loving mother was her top priority, so she desperately took any available jobs. She showed that she never gave up even through tiring times, because she was diligent in supporting her child. Angelou was a motivated woman who could achieve anything if she worked hard. She worked hard in everything she did. Giving up or slacking off were never options.

                      Her courage, perseverance, and ability to work hard are shown her autobiography and her life's work dedicated to the arts proves that she is a hero. These traits made her the person she is today, and led her to fruitful life, because she did not take the life experiences for granted. Her literature and passion for art helped her to write books and poems that showed her perspective of her past. She is a hero because she was able to turn her life around when times were brutal. Maya Angelou never let the shackles of her past bind her; she broke free and became a hero.

     Works Consulted

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Quinn Marjorie Smelstor and Edna B., et al. "Maya Angelou." Cyclopedia Of World Authors,

Fourth Revised Edition (2003): 1.Biography Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

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History: The Twentieth Century(2008): 1. Biography Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.