The Voice of Angelou

“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!” - Still I Rise, Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Johnson) was an American poet, writer, civil rights activist, dancer and singer. Born on the 4th of April 1928, in St Louis, Missouri, she (alongside her brother) was sent to live with her grandmother, after her parents got divorced, in racially segregated Swamps, Arkansa. Maya had a close bond with her brother and was taught by her grandmother to live life to the fullest and enjoy every second.

However, Maya’s life took a turn when, at the age of 7, she was molested by her mother's boyfriend, who was then killed a few days later. Believing it was her fault that the man had been killed, she became mute, for 5 and a half years. She said that she “had voice but [she] refused.” At such a young age, she experienced something so traumatic and scaring. She lost her confidence, she lost her voice, she lost herself. It was a treacherous and rocky path that she had to take on her journey to find her voice again, and find the ability to move past that hardship and slowly start talking again.

Maya used her voice and her demons to fight for the rights of African-American people and became a prominent member of the civil rights movement. Maya moved to Ghana for three years, in 1962, where she met Malcolm X and learned about the culture of Ghana and other African nations. When she returned to the USA in 1964, she returned to become an activist of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. She worked with the Organization of African American Unity, led by Malcom X, until it collapsed due to his assasination. After that, she began working with Martin Luther King, and became the Northern Coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was set up by MLK as part of the civil rights movement. She helped organize the Poor People's March in 1968 but was struck with tragedy when in April of that year, MLK was assassinated, on her 40th birthday. She refused to celebrate her birthday for years after and continued to fight for the rights of African-americans.

In 1969, she wrote a book, depicting the struggles she and her brother faced growing up. It touched on controversial issues such as racism and rape, and demonstrated Maya’s journey of self-independence, growth and self-discovery. In 1993, she spoke at Bill Clinton’s inauguration, where she read out a poem about the struggles of the time period. About the event, she said “it is fitting that he asks a woman and a black woman to write a poem about the tenor of the times. It might be symbolic that black women when looked at, are on the bottom of the graph.”

Maya worked against the chains of racism and prejudice that attempted to hold her back from achieving great things. In 1971, she received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her first poetry book. In 1976 she received the Ladies' Home Journal "Woman of the Year in Communication" award. In 1983, she received the Matrix Award. In 2010, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. These are just a few of the hundreds of awards and achievements Maya Angelou received.

Maya worked for every woman, every African-American, every person, that was hurt and discriminated against in an unfair world. She saw a broken world, and used her determination and courage to reassemble the pieces. She pushed against a wave of hate and mistreatment and walked away with her head held high. No matter what hardships, what pain, what sorrow, she faced, she picked herself up, and kept moving forward into the future, into a better world. She took every punch thrown at her, and hit back twice as hard, with nothing, but her words and her mind at her disposal.

When we face difficulties in our life, we must remember the people that came before us, who stood strong in the face of adversity, and led the path for us to do the same. However, that doesn’t mean that it will be an easy path. In life we will face challenges that seem like they have no solution, challenges that are traumatic and scary, challenges that make us lose our voice. But like Maya once did, we must work through them and face our own inner demons to find our voice again, and maybe, somewhere along the way, we will help someone else, find their voice.

Maya Angelou left this earth, on the 28th of May, 2014. However, she left behind a legacy. A legacy of courage, strength and kindness; a legacy she hoped, would inspire those to come after her, to achieve greatness.

“I can be changed by what happens to me, But i refuse to be reduced by it”- Maya Angelou

May she rest in peace and power.

Dia Nanda, 10F