Marguerite Johnson was born in 1928 in St. Louis Missouri, but she is better known as a Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet, author, public speaker and activist Dr. Maya Angelou. Having been given more than 30 honorary degrees in her career as well as receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 – Maya Angelou is most certainly an exceptional woman. Although there are many reasons why she warms our hearts, here are just 5 that highlight why we love her so.
1. She writes with beauty and conviction in equal measure. Her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (1969) broke new grounds by combining the autobiographical with fictional narrative. It was also an important book during the rise of black feminist literature in the 1970s. She wrote tellingly about the pain of the African American female experience, as oozed in the lines, ‘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.’ Speaking of her writing, Angelou states ‘nothing so frightens me as writing, but nothing so satisfies me.’ Though there may be a conflict within her, her readers are left with no doubt over the splendour of her writing.
2. There is a proverb that maintains that ‘the words of a wise person are gracious’ (Ecclesiastes 10:12, MSG) and Dr. Angelou exudes that same grace when she opens her mouth and drops pearls of wisdom. Her words offer just as much substance as they do style and carry the ability to both comfort and challenge. So at times she reassures us ‘that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.’ At other times, she reminds us that ‘you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights’ – perhaps just before we are about to fly off into a fit of unholy rage!
3. She bestows a positive offering of female beauty and empowerment. In Phenomenal Woman, a poem celebrating women, she concedes that ‘I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size’ nonetheless ‘pretty women wonder where my secret lies.’ She suggests that beauty is not merely in the cookie-cutter shape society assumes, but it can be found in the very essence of what it means to be a woman. Dr. Angelou states that it is found in ‘the span of my hips, the stride of my step, the curl of my lips.’ Her celebration of femininity is neither vulgar nor gratuitous; rather it is all-encompassing and allows females to rejoice in their womanhood, knowing that whatever they may look like, they are marvellously made.
4. Maya spent much of her earlier years as an active civil rights campaigner. She was in the process of helping Malcolm X set up the Organisation of Afro-American Unity in 1965 before he was assassinated and also assumed the position of the Northern Coordinator of Martin Luther King Junior’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In a time where African Americans were not afforded the same rights as their white counterparts – not to mention that it was also a time that women did not have nearly the same equality as many now enjoy – Maya Angelou showed herself to be bold and fearless in the eye of injustice. It is also during this time that Dr. Angelou wrote her ubiquitous poem Still I Rise where the words echo the pain, resistance and hope carried within the civil rights movement.
5. She is unashamedly outspoken. Maya Angelou recently collaborated with rapper Common on a track called The Dreamer on his latest album The Dreamer/The Believer; however, she was quick to express that although she thinks Common is ‘brilliant’ she felt ‘disappointment’ at his choice to use the N-word throughout the track. In a situation where many may veer to the extremes of either verbal attack or fear of speaking out at all, Ms Angelou shows that there is a way to maintain personal conviction and express an opinion that is neither disparaging nor marked by fear of other people’s reactions to it.
Indeed, Maya Angelou has stated that her ‘mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.’ We would say that she has so far managed to do all of the above very well.
Written by Kazstarlet
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