Dr. Maya Angelou: The Phenomenal Woman

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On May 28, 2014, legendary author and Phenomenal Woman Dr. Maya Angelou died at the age of 86. She died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Wednesday, said her literary agent, Helen Brann. 

“Angelou passed quietly in her Winston-Salem home before 8:00 a.m. EST. Her family is extremely grateful that her ascension was not belabored by a loss of acuity or comprehension. She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace. The family is extremely appreciative of the time we had with her and we know that she is looking down upon us with love,” written in a statement from her family. 

Born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps, Dr. Angelou experienced the brutality of racial discrimination, but she also absorbed the unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family, community, and culture.

Overcoming racism and sexual abuse, today Angelou is hailed as a global renaissance woman. Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.

Angelou spent her early years studying dance and drama in San Francisco, but dropped out of school at age 14. When she was 16, Angelou became San Francisco's first female streetcar driver.

She later returned to high school to get her diploma. She gave birth a few weeks after graduation. While the 17-year-old single mother waited tables to support her son, she developed a passion for music and dance, and toured Europe in the mid-1950s in the opera production "Porgy and Bess."

In 1957, she recorded her first album, "Miss Calypso." In 1958, Angelou became a part of the Harlem Writers Guild in New York and played a queen in "The Blacks," an off-Broadway production by French dramatist Jean Genet.

"I created myself," Angelou once said. "I have taught myself so much." Angelou spoke at least six languages and worked as a newspaper editor in Egypt and Ghana.

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Affectionately referred to as Dr. Angelou, the writer never went to college. But she has more than 30 honorary degrees and taught American studies for years at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.

Oprah Winfrey called Dr. Angelou her "mentor, mother/sister, and friend since my 20's." "

She was there for me always, guiding me through some of the most important years of my life. The world knows her as a poet but at the heart of her, she was a teacher. 'When you learn, teach. When you get, give' is one of my best lessons from her," Winfrey said. 

"But what stands out to me most about Maya Angelou is not what she has done or written or spoken, it's how she lived her life. She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace. I loved her and I know she loved me. I will profoundly miss her. She will always be the rainbow in my clouds."

President Obama remembered Angelou on Wednesday, saying she was "one of the brightest lights of our time -- a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman."

In Los Angeles, iconic music producer Quincy Jones said he was saddened to have lost a "dear friend, colleague and sister."

Despite her impressive resume, Maya Angelou is one of the most banned authors in U.S. history. So controversial is she that she was ranked #3 on the ALA’s top 100 list for 1990-2000 and #6 for 2001-2010. She has placed in the top 10 every year for the past decade.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the autobiographical telling about the writer and poet’s early years. It is a story that demonstrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 17. 

Through the years Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-assured, dignified young woman who is commanding as a civil rights activist.

Photo: CNN

Angelou’s autobiography explores subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy with intelligence and sophistication; she also writes about the state of women’s lives in a male-dominated society.

In 2011, TIME magazine named the book one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since the beginning of the publication in 1923. It has been used in high schools and universities, and the book has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir. 

However, the book’s graphic portrayal of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has had thirty-nine public challenges or bans since 1983 (bannedbooks.world.edu).

"You have no idea who you will inform because all of us are caged birds, have been and will be again," she said in 1998 at a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign. "Caged by somebody else's ignorance. Caged because of someone else's small-mindedness. Caged because of someone else's fear, hate and sometimes, caged by our own lack of courage." (CNN)

Phenomenal Woman

Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,   

The stride of my step,   

The curl of my lips.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,   

That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,   

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.   

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.   

I say,

It’s the fire in my eyes,   

And the flash of my teeth,   

The swing in my waist,   

And the joy in my feet.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered   

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can’t touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,   

They say they still can’t see.   

I say,

It’s in the arch of my back,   

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.   

I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.   

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It’s in the click of my heels,   

The bend of my hair,   

the palm of my hand,   

The need for my care.   

’Cause I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” from And Still I Rise. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. 

Used by permission of Random House, Inc.

Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994)

Photo: CNN

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