
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.
Explore Maya's Life Work: Maya Angelou | Maya Angelou - Caged Bird Legacy
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
By Maya Angelou
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
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