Celebrating Maya Angelou's 90th Birthday (Poetry & Inspiring Quotes)
Award-winning American author, poet & activist, Maya Angelou Maya Angelou, would have been 90, today (April 4, 1928–May 28, 2014). Below, is one of the rousing poems that she is best remembered for, during her influential career, spanning over 50 years:
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.
Today's Google doodle is in honor of Dr. Angelou, featuring a reading of the poem above by the poet herself, along with friends/family, including: her son, Guy Johnson, Oprah Winfrey, Alicia Keys and others inspired by her.
(Images: Google & African Archives)
—Maya Angelou
I was super lucky to see her read this live when I was in college. She walked with a cane, but grew tall and her voice rang with the same tones as if she was still in her prime. It was one of the highlights of my poetic life.
Wonderful to hear, dear Sun, thanks, for sharing that vivid snapshot. She had such a life force and I believe it is her feisty personality and what she achieved, in addition to her poetry, that continues to hold our imagination 🙇🏻♂️
A beautiful tribute :)
Thank you, for also honoring her on your blog, along with the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
As you justly point out, together, they helped shape the American consciousness ✌🏼
Thank you and you're welcome :)
Happy Birthday. Wish you long life maya angeloe
She passed away in 2014 (as I make mention in the second line of this post). But, of course, her work lives on...
Wish you a very very happy birthday The Great Poet and Philosopher of the century —Maya Angelou :)
Yes, We all wise rise ....
Thank you so much @yahialababidi for giving her a brilliant tribute on her 90th birthday :)
Here's more of her poetry:
—Maya Angelou
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/alone