Remembering Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou.
(Credit: taylorjewell)

America lost its beloved poet Maya Angelou last night, who passed away in North Carolina at the age of 86. Maya Angelou’s poetic voice reaches far beyond the domain of America’s literary history; her words mark the triumph of a writer unafraid to face social injustice and challenge it with imagination and creativity. The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff reflects on Angelou’s constant involvement in both creative and political realms, stating that “she had already been a calypso singer, [San Francisco] streetcar conductor, administrative assistant in Ghana; official of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and friend or associate of some of the most eminent black Americans of the mid-20th century, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928. Though her relatives weren’t wealthy, Angelou’s family withstood the Great Depression without much loss. Real tragedy came to her in 1936, when she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and rendered mute for almost five years. It was during this period when Angelou developed her appetite for literature, devouring the works of Shakespeare and Poe with the help of teacher and friend Bertha Flowers. In the following years, her family would move to Oakland, where Angelou began her life as a single mother and her budding career as a San Francisco calypso singer. Decades later, she would publish the now-classic autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

In her life, Maya Angelou married a few times, but no one knows exactly how many husbands she had. She did have a boyfriend, South African civil rights activist and lawyer Vusumzi Make, from 1961 until 1963, but they never married. Angelou had one child, a son named Guy, followed by a grandson and two great-grandchildren.

President Obama awards Angelou the 2010 Medal of Freedom.
(Credit: Pundit.net)

An excerpt from “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou:

“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.”

It’s hard to pick an adjective to describe Angelou’s spirit. What word could contain all of her strength as a single mother, a political activist and a creative mind? For the woman of endless words, let us give two: inimitable and unforgettable.

What’s your favorite Maya Angelou poem, book or piece of music/dance? We look forward to your comments below.