 |
| James Baldwin was helpful in the publication of Maya Angelou's first book |
What do you do when your birthday becomes a national day of mourning?
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on Maya Angelou's 40th birthday, and for years she could not celebrate her birth.
Thank you to Brian Park of the Los Angeles Times for discussing this tragic conjunction of events in today's newspaper: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-maya-angelou-martin-luther-king-jr-20180404-story.html
Today marks what would have been her 90th birthday, and Google posted a delightful reading of her famous poem "Still I Rise" by Oprah Winfrey and others. #GoogleDoodle
https://g.co/doodle/hqbawy?ds=tw
"Still I Rise" resonates beautifully with Easter this year as Jesus's resurrection and Maya's birth nearly coincide.
But with the death of Stephon Clarke in Sacramento, so close to Good Friday, and with our marking of the 50th year since the murder of MLK Jr., the deep undertones of Maya's poem are evident:
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.... (read by her son Guy Johnson)
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise
Racially-linked deaths continue. Child sexual abuse continues (she was a survivor). Resurrection continues.
We must each walk with Jesus and rise.
See also:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maya-angelou-remembered-poet-writer-civil-rights-activist-caged-bird-google-doodle-a8287691.html
https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/google-releases-amazing-new-doodle-in-honor-of-maya-ang-1824309602
No comments:
Post a Comment