Tribute to Maya

 “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” ~ Maya Angelou

 
Maya Angelou. What can I add to honor her life and memory that hasn't already been said? 

Feministing.com

She was one of the best and most influential writers of the 20th century. She was more than that, though. She was a trailblazer who arose ("Up from a past that’s rooted in pain/I rise") from poverty, racism, molestation, rape, teenage pregnancy, and a lack of formal higher education, all of which would have swallowed a lesser being, and transcended gender, race, economics, and cultures with her poetry, memoirs, travels, and civil rights activism. 

If I needed any proof of that, I found it yesterday in my Facebook newsfeed as men and women of all ages and backgrounds shared their favorite Maya quotes and discussed what she meant to them.

It's ironic to me that this woman who chose muteness as a young child developed a voice as an adult that was heard around the world as an advocate for peace and racial and gender equality. I first discovered her remarkable voice as a young college student when I read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as preparation for an oral report for one of my literature classes, and I went on to read many more of her words after that. 

From reading her work, I found, as many others around the world did, and will do for decades to come, that she was a woman of great wisdom and truth (I've learned to live by her quote, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them") who arose from so little to become so much. Her life was as brilliant as her written and spoken words. She chose to respond, always, to her life's many challenges with grace, class, compassion, and greater strength.

Her life and its work were a lesson and a gift to the world. 

Thank you, Maya. May we give what you gave us.