Back To Maya

I have been reading, mostly rereading or listening to some remarkable Maya Angelou books and enjoying every word. "If we tolerate vulgarity, our future will sway and fall under ignorance. It need not be so. We have the brains and the heart to face our futures bravely. She said, taking responsibility for the time we take up and space we occupy".

This courageous and impactful woman always inspires me. Despite numerous burdens in her life and her time, she never stopped working hard to make her dreams a reality. "Courage is the most important of all virtues because, without courage, you can't practice any other virtues consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently. You can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest without courage. One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential."

I'm currently listening to Mom & Me & Mom. Maya's extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies, but in this book, she shares the most profound personal story of her life—the relationship with her mother. Here, and in all of her books, she regards the world and herself with intelligence and wit and gracefully records her life's events. She was living a complicated yet meaningful life, and she proved again that her mission in life is not to survive, but to thrive. And yes, she did it with passion, compassion, humor, and style.

"Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise."

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Maya Angelou took on so many roles. She was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet, and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman.