“And cold defeat live deep in
Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, yet
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live.”
Maya Angelou didn’t speak for five years when she was seven. The young poet thought her tongue and words were at fault for a death. She was molested by her mother’s boyfriend and when an uncle found out and killed him, she fell mute. However, years later her words would end up becoming part of the most classic pieces of literary art.
But before all the middles and ends, there was her beginning as Marguerite Johnson. The girl wasn’t able to say her name due to a stutter so her brother, Bailey, called her “My” as in “My Sister”. It changed to Maya when he read a book about the Maya Indians. The name stayed with her from then on.
But Angelou wasn’t just a poet. She was San Francisco’s first African American female cable car conductor, a civil rights activist, single mother, performer, singer, songwriter, director, and the list could go on and on because this woman was so many things and so many words. She lived a life with difficulties but looking at her history, you can’t help but see someone who loved to live.
And that’s what I admire so much about this woman who continues to be a legacy through one of her most known poems, “Still I Rise”. She was a woman who ultimately kept going no matter what and with a smile at that.
In order to get a job as a cable conductor, every day for three weeks Angelou requested the job application and didn’t give up despite rejection after rejection. Eventually, the company gave in, and of course, she ended up getting the job. Talk about determination.
At age 16, Angelou got pregnant with a son and as a single black mother during the ’40s, that was no easy thing. Having recently graduated high school, she moved to San Diego and became a nighttime waitress but also found herself in a circle of drugs and prostution. However, ironically enough, it was at a strip club which ended up becoming her career miracle. Well, maybe not a miracle, but rather a result of hard work. A theater group discovered her there and it led to an international tour of 22 countries for a role in Porgy and Bess.
Angelou also became close with Martin Luther King Jr, who requested she serve as a coordinator for the Southern Christina Leadership Conference, an organization that advocates for African American rights in the U.S.
Angelou truly left so much of herself through various accomplishments, whether it was through writing, performing, or teaching. Presidents gave her medals, her artistic works won rewards but ultimately, what really can be seen through all this is a woman who never ceased to stop dreaming. She gave it her all because that’s the way to live.
If you look back, you can say it started with her book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a journey that tells you of her past up until her son’s birth. Essentially it made her a national figure. It makes sense to give the credit where credit’s due but I think it started as it always seems to start. With a little kid and a dream that never ends. Or I guess, in this particular case, a little girl called Marguerite who couldn’t quite say her name. Until she did.
To learn more about Maya Angelou, here are a couple of websites to get to know about this incredible woman:
https://www.achievement.org/achiever/maya-angelou/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/maya-angelou-is-born
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maya-angelou
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maya-angelou