I was a self-conscious 17-year-old when I first heard the
words… I rise, I rise, I rise- some
of Maya Angelou’s best known. I already had the inclinations of a writer but
hadn’t yet put much of worth down on paper. I found, in those words, a hope
that maybe someday I could write something that would be so important to
someone as those words were to me. Even now, all of these years later, I still
think in my weaker moments when I need something- anything- to grab on to…But still, like air, I’ll rise.
I devoured every word of her's that I could find- her poems,
her plays and, most strikingly, her autobiographies. Her life, so different
from mine, was inspirational in a way that I had didn’t know was possible. Her
struggles and hardships should have created a bitter woman, one who gave up on
life and succumbed to the worst of the world as tragedy after tragedy struck
her. Instead she was able to see the goodness in life, the beauty and agony of
the human soul and to revel in the uniqueness of her own spirit. She fought for
the rights of woman and African-Americans. She refused to step around the
ugliness in the world, but instead addressed it head on and inspired others to
join her on the way to happiness.
The above picture, a framed excerpt from Phenomenal Woman, sits out in my kitchen.
I gave a copy to a few special women in my life several years ago. These words,
along with so many others that Maya wrote, are a constant reminder to be
strong. My heart hurts at the loss of such an extraordinary woman. I can only hope
to channel even an ounce of her inspirational strength and maybe, someday, find
a way to write down something that will change someone the way she has changed
me for the better.
Wishing Maya Angelou
a sweet goodbye on this sad day.
"All my work, my life,
everything I do is about survival, not just bare, awful, plodding survival, but
survival with grace and faith. While one may encounter many defeats, one must
not be defeated".
Maya Angelou
