Maya Angelou her name alone makes my heart skip a beat just thinking about the legacy she left on this earth. Her work that should be rejoiced within classrooms is often banned for the use of the n word. Yet her work reflects a dark time in history that shouldn't be passed over out of fear of exploitation. Her story is so personal and meaningful for the time it was placed in. The second I heard her story I was captivated by her life, I began researching and loving every interview and moment captured about her.
Unforuntantly she passed away in 2014, I still remember that day like it was yesterday. Walking down the long hallway in my house barefoot on a search for breakfast, when a CNN news alert popped up on my phone. "Maya Angelou reported dead May 28, 2014." I remeber screenshotting that news article and imediatly sharing my thoughts and feeling about the loss of such a leagend. Her physical body may not walk this earth but her soul is still alive in her works and the lives of people she touched along her journey.
Saint Louis, Missouri the year 1928, April 4th. Maya was born Margurite Anne Johnson she didn't recieve the name Maya Angelou until her early twenties. She has one sibiling her brother named Bailey, three years after Maya was born her parents got divorce. Her and her brother were sent to Stamps, Arkansas to live with her grandmother. She says in her book "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" "When I was three and Bailey four, we had arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed- "To Whom It May Concern"- that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansasm, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson." (Angelou, pg 5) After living with her grandmother whose name soon changed to Mama after living together for 6 years. Maya and her brother were sent back to St. Louis to live with their mother.
Maya was 8 years old when she was raped by her mothers friend "Mr.Freeman" in the book, it says "Then there was the pain. A breaking and entering when even the senses are torn apart. The act of rape on an eight-year-old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can't. The child gives, because the body can, and the mind of the violator cannot." (Angelou, pg 78). This horrible event cause Maya to be mute for almost five years. She spent those years memorizing poetry in her head, she reflects on that tie saying that being mute is so addictive. Even in her adult life she felt drawn become mute once again.
Her grousum childhood resonates with copulace people who have gone through similar things as her. I remember the first time I was introduced to her, high school Mrs.Borchers English class. The subject of the week was poetry, we had spent our time going through all different kinds of poems taking them line by line. My heart was so full with the emotions each poem brought out in my confused young teenage self. This day she handed out a copy of the poem "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou, I began reading the second it was in my hands.
"Caged Bird
BY Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom."
The last two stanzas of this poem resonated with me as someone who felt so held down by my own self doubt and hate towards myself. I wanted to feel free from my anxiety for once in my life and felt truly like a caged bird. After further exploring Maya's story I thought if she could overcome such hardships, my minor problem could be overcome.
I later fan girled when I saw her on Super Soul Sunday which is a show where Oprah goes on a deeper more spirtiual level with her guest. At the end of each show she goes soul to soul with her guest and every time the guest always say such thought provoking things. On the episode with Maya, Oprah asks "What do you call the soul? What is it?" She replies "The soul is the spirit it longs for All. And that spirit then uses it's self to create the blue, gospel music, and pop music, and hip hop music. It's that spirit that moans, let me say something that leads me to All.- The poetry I write it to get closer to all. You tell so much truth, not facts, because facts can obsure the truth." Just wow this statement so bold and thought provoking. Taking her words and just reflecting on what they mean to you for just a moment.
Maya's life will always stand out to me and many others as a testament of overcoming hardships and being such a beautiful and spiritual person. I want to leave you with a quote from her, one of my personal favorites.
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." - Maya Angelou
Until next week, stay curious.
