Long before President elect William Jefferson Clinton selected her to write and deliver the first inauguration poem since Robert Frost read for JFK’s 1961ceremony, Maya Angelou was the poet laureate of the Black experience in America.
“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.”
She knew more than why the caged bird sings. She knew how the caged bird sang, what the caged bird sang about, and why it was so important for us to listen. Her words brought our joys and sorrows to life.
She showed the world the universality and commonality of our experiences.
“So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African and Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.”
And, she provided us all with words to live by.
“Whoever you are, where ever you are, start there!”
“When we know better, we do better.”
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”
“You alone are enough.”
Over the next few weeks as we commemorate her life, we hope that we will truly celebrate her life. Not in the pomp and circumstance and ceremony that are bound to happen, but in the personification and manifestation of what she spent her life trying to teach us. It takes courage to speak truth to power, to fight for justice and peace, and to live a life of love and grace; but it is worth the pain and sacrifice. – Black AIDS Institute
