top of page

Maya Angelou: A Legacy of Resilience, Truth, and Rising

Writer's picture: Danielle BakerDanielle Baker

Maya Angelou: A Legacy of Resilience, Truth, and Rising


Maya Angelou (1928–2014) is a celebrated American poet, author, and Civil Rights activist whose extraordinary life and work continue to inspire. Her groundbreaking 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. The book’s candid exploration of racism, identity, and resilience earned critical acclaim but has also faced frequent bans in schools and libraries due to its honest depictions of sexual violence and racial injustice.



Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.



Maya Angelou’s profound influence is famously captured in her poem Still I Rise. It’s a declaration of defiance and strength, an anthem for those who have faced adversity and been pushed down by the weight of history, pain, or oppression. It’s a reminder of the resilience inherent within each of us, regardless of the forces that try to break us.


“You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies, / You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise.”Still I Rise by Maya Angelou


In this poem, Angelou speaks directly to the forces of oppression, discrimination, and hatred that have attempted to silence her and countless others. Through every verse, she channels the deep strength of those who have suffered, stating that despite it all, we will rise again, stronger, fiercer, and more vibrant than ever.


Still I Rise


You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.


Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994)


Thank you for reading, so many thanks to Maya Angelou for gracing this earth.


Love,

Danielle xx






16 views0 comments

Comentarios


Follow Me

 

© 2022 by Danielle Catherine

  • Instagram
  • Spotify

Join our mailing list

bottom of page