Maya Angelou - Women's History Month - 30

 "My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart."--Maya Angelou

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

MAYA ANGELOU "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.  -Maya Angelou, poet (1928-2014) “Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”~Maya Angelou From: “Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now” Photo by Chris Felver . Once again I am in awe of a powerful talented woman. I could quote her all day! I read her first autobiography (of 7) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) her life up to the age of 17, when it was first published. Her awards are many, as well as more than 50 honorary doctorates.  From Wikipedia: She was born...   Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014); an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years   She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa.    Angelou worked as a composer, co-writing for singer Roberta Flack, and composing movie scores. She wrote articles, short stories, TV scripts, documentaries, autobiographies, and poetry. She produced plays and was named visiting professor at several colleges and universities. In a 1995 interview she said:  I wrote about my experiences because I thought too many people tell young folks, "I never did anything wrong. Who, Moi? – never I. I have no skeletons in my closet. In fact, I have no closet." They lie like that and then young people find themselves in situations and they think, "Damn I must be a pretty bad guy. My mom or dad never did anything wrong." They can't forgive themselves and go on with their lives.   "SHE [ANGELOU] HAD ACCOMPLISHED MORE THAN MANY ARTISTS HOPE TO ACHIEVE IN A LIFETIME." (From: Gillespie, Marcia Ann, Rosa Johnson Butler, and Richard A. Long. (2008). Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration. New York: Random House) If you have never heard her in an interview, or reciting one of her poems, you've missed a great vocal performance. She holds our interest with pauses placed critically, and her enunciation has no country.     Though I haven't added this First Lady to our Women's History month, she certainly was on the short list. So I'll gladly sneak her in with this poster. If you can't enlarge it enough, the quoted sayings are by (L to R) Frida Kahlo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michelle Obama, and Maya Angelou