It is no question that Maya Angelou is indeed a renaissance woman—she is a renowned poet, activist, actress, musician, educator and historian. But perhaps most importantly, she is a voice; a voice of courage, strength, love and grace. Born in Mississippi in 1928, she faced the intense hardships of racial discrimination and has since used her experiences to tell a continuous story of courage and faith through many artistic outlets, including poetry, dance and spoken word.
When asked the question in a 2008 interview: “What message would you want to instill in young girls and what do you wish you had known as a child?”, Angelou responded:
“That one, courage. Also, I encourage courtesy. To accept nothing less than courtesy and to give nothing less than courtesy. If we accept being talked to in any kind of way, then we are telling ourselves that we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world that we are not very intelligent.”
It is this assertion of courage and humility that enables Maya Angelou to inspire women to be proud of who they are as women and most importantly that they have the ability to inspire others to optimistically move forward towards change. In the same interview referenced above, she stated that she notices an incredible shift in social communities where women are seeking out other women to form groups; activist groups, social groups, special interest groups, etc. As a woman who grew up during the time when women did not have the right to vote and witnessed the first stages of feminist activism in the United States, Angelou was amazed to see how the women in society have progressively come together to form a stronger voice for women throughout the world. There is no doubt that this progressive movement is in many ways indebted to both her words and work that speak to the courage and confidence of women.
Maya Angelou will celebrate her 85th birthday this year and is currently a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
Information source: Interview with Marianne Schnall, founder of Feminist.com http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/mayaangelou.html
Maya Angelou, Biography www.mayaangelou.com
When asked the question in a 2008 interview: “What message would you want to instill in young girls and what do you wish you had known as a child?”, Angelou responded:
“That one, courage. Also, I encourage courtesy. To accept nothing less than courtesy and to give nothing less than courtesy. If we accept being talked to in any kind of way, then we are telling ourselves that we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world that we are not very intelligent.”
It is this assertion of courage and humility that enables Maya Angelou to inspire women to be proud of who they are as women and most importantly that they have the ability to inspire others to optimistically move forward towards change. In the same interview referenced above, she stated that she notices an incredible shift in social communities where women are seeking out other women to form groups; activist groups, social groups, special interest groups, etc. As a woman who grew up during the time when women did not have the right to vote and witnessed the first stages of feminist activism in the United States, Angelou was amazed to see how the women in society have progressively come together to form a stronger voice for women throughout the world. There is no doubt that this progressive movement is in many ways indebted to both her words and work that speak to the courage and confidence of women.
Maya Angelou will celebrate her 85th birthday this year and is currently a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
Information source: Interview with Marianne Schnall, founder of Feminist.com http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/mayaangelou.html
Maya Angelou, Biography www.mayaangelou.com
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