On Wednesday, May 28th, world-renowned poet,
political activist, professor, and humanitarian Maya
Angelou passed away at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was 86.
Angelou leaves behind iconic pieces of literary works such as “I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings,” a testament to the brutality of life in the Jim Crow
south. Her words traveled all across the
world, transcending time, place, and generation. In 2010 she was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a civilian. We remember Angelou for the profound impact
she made on the world through her poetry, activism, and unwillingness to
compromise on her ideals. Her grace
coupled with humility, honesty, and power has made the world that much
better.
Angelou’s ‘StillI Rise’
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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.
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.
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.
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 back yard.
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
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.
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?
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.
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