Who Was Maya Angelou, Really?

Photo: Courtesy of MayaAngelou.com.I don't remember the first time I heard Maya Angelou's name or learned who she was. I don't even remember the first time I read her work. I just know she was always there. A poet. A woman. A force. Important. You might think it's because I've been reading her for so long that I can't remember when the words began, but that would not be correct. The truth is I'm pretty sure I've never read anything Maya Angelou wrote. Or, at least, I hadn't.



Now, slow your eye roll just a minute. I need you to know something about me. I read. Essays. Novels. Short stories. Long stories. Me and poetry, we have no problem with each other. I like poetry. I once dated a poem. I could recite "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" if you fed me a line or two, and for one summer in the early '00s, Edna St. Vincent Millay was my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, how is it that I never read the work of someone prone to saying things like "I thought of myself as a giant ear…I would go into a room and just eat up the sound."



Who was this woman, this poet, this giant ear? The New York Times calls her a "lyrical witness of the Jim Crow South." When it comes to epitaphs, you could do worse. It could've been "author and activist," but "lyrical witness" suggests, almost ironically, a vital role to play. It's nearly enough to convince me that we are, at birth, dropped off at a very specific location, bags packed with a certain set of tools and our only job is to figure out how to use them. And, Angelou did just that, but so much more. Yes, she was a black Southern female writer. But, she was also black, Southern, female, and a writer. And, still then, she was more.

Read More

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?



Marilyn Monroe With Cute Animals: A Birthday Slideshow You'll Love



Chloë Grace Moretz Is The Wisest Teen Star Ever



Miley Cyrus' New Tour Guest Is Smokin'