Wise Words Wednesday – Maya Angelou

Am I my brother’s keeper? No, I am my brother. Maya Angelou was one of the wisest women on the planet before she ascended to her heavenly journey. Here’s what she thought about keeping our brothers:

Wise Words Wednesday – Maya Angelou

This week’s wise words comes from one of my favorite people who ever walked the planet. Yesterday was Dr. Maya Angelou’s birthday as well as this month being National Poetry Month. ‘Mama Maya’ as she is affectionately called was one of the wisest people to live IMHO. 

The below quote tells us her mission in life and I have no doubt that she accomplished all of it before making her transition. 

She was a great speaker and a brilliant wordsmith. Check out the video below for one of my favorite talks she gave:

Wise Words Wednesday – Maya Angeou

If you follow my blog, you know I am a huge fan of Dr. Maya Angelou. Her wisdom is something that fuels me. I would love to know what she would think of the state of affairs in this country today. Since that is not possible, let’s reminisce on this talk she gave about Love and how it liberates. These words are powerful! Thanks you Dr. Angelou.

 

Words Crush Wednesday #wcw – Angelou

It’s Words Crush Wednesday #wcw a day late. 

The world has too much hate. We ALL need to get back to LOVE!

Words Crush Wednesday #wcw – Angelou

This week’s entry for Words Crush Wednesday Challenge #wcw is from renowned poet Maya Angelou in honor of her birthday on April 4th.

 

Thanks to all who participated in past challenges. Remember to ping back to this post and use tag #wcw so I can find it.

The Mad Grad Student

Eat, Play, Clove.

Riddle from the Middle

Want to join the fun? Click Here to see how it’s done.

Black Authors I LOVE! – Day 6

Today’s featured author for my Black Authors I LOVE! is the incomparable Maya Angelou! This fascinating woman was a poet, author, singer, dancer and college professor just to name a few. She traveled the world and interacted with the people of the planet for her education, yet became one of the most prolific minds of my lifetime. She was down to earth and comfortable dining with presidents and heads of state as she was regular people. She served as an adviser to both Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X carving her place in history as a civil rights activist. She was friends with both James Baldwin and Oprah Winfrey and could spin a tale like nobody’s business. If you have not read her autobiography “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by all means stop what you’re doing and buy it NOW! Don’t stop there, be sure to read her phenomenal poetry and her other books as well. If that doesn’t float your boat, catch her talking giving words of wisdom to the masses on YouTube.

3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge – Day 1

It seems like these blog challenges are the new thing and I am always up for a challenge. Thanks to Ritu at But I Smile Anyway for nominating me for the 3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge. 

The challenge is about posting your favorite quotes or your own quotes for 3 days in a row.

The rules of the challenge include:
Thank the person who nominated you
Post a quote a day for 3 day
Each day nominate 3 new bloggers to take part

If you read my blog, you know I love a good quote so this challenge is right up my alley. Here is today’s entry:

And now for today’s nominees:

Kwoted by KE Garland

 Life in Russia 

Seasoned Sistah2

Writing 201: Poetry – Day 6 Weekend Fun

The weekend assignment is to post a poem that you love written by someone else. I have chosen “The Mask” by my favorite poet, Maya Angelou. This was inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask”, proving even the best writers are inspired by their peers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Oh and I even included a video of her reciting her poem!

The Mask
by Maya Angelou

When I think about myself
I almost laugh myself to death.
My life has been one great big joke!
A dance that’s walked a song that’s spoke.
I laugh so hard HA! HA! I almos’ choke
When I think about myself.

Seventy years in these folks’ world
The child I works for calls me girl
I say “HA! HA! HA! Yes ma’am!”
For workin’s sake
I’m too proud to bend and
Too poor to break
So…I laugh! Until my stomach ache
When I think about myself.
My folks can make me split my side
I laugh so hard, HA! HA! I nearly died
The tales they tell sound just like lying
They grow the fruit but eat the rind.
Hmm huh! I laugh uhuh huh huh…
Until I start to cry when I think about myself
And my folks and the children.

We wear the mask that grins and lies.
It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes.
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts…
We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.
Why should the world think otherwise
In counting all our tears and sighs.
Nay let them only see us while
We wear the mask.

We smile but oh my God
Our tears to thee from tortured souls arise
And we sing Oh Baby doll, now we sing…
The clay is vile beneath our feet
And long the mile
But let the world think otherwise.
We wear the mask.

My fathers sit on benches,
Their flesh count every plank,
The slats leave dents of darkness
Deep in their withered flank.
And they gnarled like broken candles,
All waxed and burned profound.
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
that made your world go round.

There in those pleated faces
I see the auction block
The chains and slavery’s coffles
The whip and lash and stock.

My fathers speak in voices
That shred my fact and sound
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
that made your world go round.

They laugh to conceal their crying,
They shuffle through their dreams
They stepped ’n fetched a country
And wrote the blues in screams.
I understand their meaning,
It could an did derive
From living on the edge of death
They kept my race alive
By wearing the mask! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Notes:

An adaptation of the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”

We Wear the Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should that world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, oh my God, our cries
To Thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh, the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world think otherwise,
We wear the mask.

Maya Angelou Quote

Writer’s Quote Wednesday

I read this last night and thought it befitting with everything going on in the world today. I miss Maya Angelou and her wisdom. The world could really use her comforting hugs at a time like this.

Thanks to Silver Threading for the Writer’s Quote Wednesday Challenge. Click the link or the picture below to join: