![]() On attitude: “If you don't like something, change it. By the time she died on May 28, 2014, she had written a total of 36 books - including cookbooks - and her gift for crafting words has forever left us with some of the most inspirational and memorable quotes of our time. Paving so many firsts is simply proof of Angelou’s ability to break down barriers in every field she pursued. and later worked with Macolm X to set up the Organization of Afro-American Unity when she lived in Africa. Throughout her many careers, she was actively involved with the civil rights movement, serving as the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference where she met Martin Luther King Jr. The renaissance woman continued evolving her artistic talents by focusing on poetry, even reciting her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration - the first inaugural recitation since 1961. Her bestseller about her early life went on set a record for being on the New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list for two years, and when her screenplay for Georgia, Georgia was turned into a movie in 1972, she also became the first African American woman to have her screenplay produced. While she got a Tony nomination for the play Look Away in 1973 and Emmy nomination for the TV miniseries Roots in 1977, it was her writing that helped her pave even more firsts. The next decade, she found success as a performer, starring in a touring production of Porgy and Bess, as well as off-Broadway’s Calypso Heat Wave in 1957 and releasing an album Miss Calypso the same year. As retaliation, her uncles killed her perpetrator, scarring the young girl to the point that she didn’t speak for about five years.Įventually, she moved out west and started carving out her own path - becoming the first African American cable car conductor in San Francisco in the 1940s. There, she faced discrimination - and was raped by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of seven. Louis, Missouri, Angelou had a traumatic childhood after her family moved to Arkansas. ![]() Maya Angelou.Maya Angelou made her mark in literary history by writing the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman: her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.īut that wasn’t her only first - or even her first one.īorn April 4, 1928, in St. If you don’t know what you’re here to do, then just do some good.įrom all of us at 101 Mobility®, our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Dr. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself – for the time you take up and the space you occupy. ![]() It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. ![]() What is a fear of living? It’s being preeminently afraid of dying. Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. The most important thing I can tell you about aging is this: If you really feel that you want to have an off-the-shoulder blouse and some big beads and thong sandals and a dirndl skirt and a magnolia in your hair, do it. There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it. I believe that every person is born with talent. If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded. I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. We may not have enough courage to display it. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.īitterness is like cancer. There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.Ĭourage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Angelou tirelessly gave her talents to the world – and we are all better for it. Born in 1928, she led a triumphant and rich life. The renowned poet, author, and civil rights activist passed away today in her hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. Maya Angelou was known for making the English language ‘sing’.
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