Maya does not try to gloss over the fact that she's black: she embraces it, along with all the distressing historical baggage that comes with it. I read this book by Maya Angelou after I finished the first part of her biography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, because I was impressed by her boldness and candour. In every new reading of a favourite poem, you will find something fresh to appreciate. Like the Akshaya Patra ("Inexhaustible Vessel") in the Indian Epic Mahabharata, which keeps on delivering food no matter how many times one approaches it, a poetry book will keep on supplying food for the intellect. What I like about poetry is that it is never completely "read". I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size "Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I will let her speak for herself, and hope her words help those of us who turned out a bit shy, or short, or insecure, or invisible, or overlooked, to grow an inch while reading: Hers is a world that CAN BE - if you believe in yourself. She finds beauty in self-confidence rather than prettiness, in effort rather than accomplishment, in dreams rather than status. She celebrates love, anger, sadness, community and loneliness from the perspective of individual experience, putting a specific, unique person in focus rather than an underprivileged group. She gives everyday life an artistically powerful voice, speaking loudly and confidently from the corner of society that unfortunately still remains invisible or indifferent to those in power.īut Maya Angelou is more than just a writer speaking for those without words of their own. Her hopes and fears, her dreams and nightmares are the stuff that humans are made on. Her direct, honest words fit any human rights discussions, any debates on racism and misogyny, any reflections on the distribution of wealth and power, privilege and entitlement. Maya Angelou's poems have accompanied my teaching for a very long time. What is it like to be a woman of colour with brilliant intellectual and linguistic power? Is it a blessing, is it a curse, is it both at the same time? Isn't it just being human, in the end?
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