Maya Angelou - Tumblr Posts
Hijacking this wonderful post just to say that Maya Angelou is an inspiring person and I suggest you guys look her up and maybe read a few of her works. She is a marvel. Rip to a legendary human being
As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal someone else.
— Maya Angelou
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
— Maya Angelou
Ain't that the truth
“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”
— Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou, from Letter to My Daughter
[Text ID: I am convinced that most people do not grow up. We find parking spaces and honor our credit cards. We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias. We may act sophisticated and worldly but I believe we feel safest when we go inside ourselves and find home, a place where we belong and maybe the only place we really do.]
“I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.”
— Maya Angelou
if you don't like something change it. if you can't change it change your attitude
maya angelou
"Writing is different. Ordinary people don't understand. Other people get into occupations by accident or design; but writers are born. We have to write. I have to write. I could work at selling motels, or slopping hogs, for fifty years, but if someone asked my occupation, I'd say writer, even if I'd never sold a word. Writers write. Other people talk." - W.P. Kinsella - Shoeless Joe (book that inspired Field of Dreams)
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style
Maya Angelou (via feellng)
Today in Black Excellence: Maya Angelou—a literature titan whose 1969 memoir was the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” —Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
What was the early life of Maya Angelou?
She became a celebrated writer and Black icon, but it came from a childhood of tragedy. Born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Angelou was quickly exposed to racism as a child. Her parents split when she was young, and while visiting her mother, aged eight, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend: her uncles killed the boyfriend in revenge. These horrors left Angelou mute for five years, as she discussed in an interview with Oprah, a close friend. At age 16, she gave birth and was forced to work grueling jobs to support her son—including fry cook, sex worker, and nightclub performer.
She recounted her traumas to close friend James Baldwin—fellow writer and Black icon. He challenged Angelou to write about her experiences, and she published the wildly successful memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It catapulted Angelou to international stardom and was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970. It remained on The New York Times’ paperback nonfiction bestseller list for two years—the longest record in history.
What made her such a Black icon?
Angelou was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on her birthday in 1968. Angelou stopped celebrating her birthday for years afterward. In 1964, Angelou helped another activist friend Malcolm X in founding the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
Spanning over 50 years, she published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, books of poetry, and plays. Her 1971 poetry collection, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’Fore I Die, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Because of her tireless work in literature and political activism, Angelou became widely respected as a spokesperson for the Black experience, particularly of women. You can even find her legacy in your pocket—she recently became the first black woman to appear on a US quarter.
Original portrait by Tumblr Creatr @inuqo
"I was filled with such deep gratitude while working on this illustration of Maya Angelou. Her talent, creativity, strength, power and resilience is inspiring to us all and I wanted to display how beautiful her Universe was. How important her words and life's journey was because it showed us that no matter how hard we fall, still we can rise".”
—@inuqo
— Maya Angelou, “Starvation” from The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
um, yes please, bring them books here!!!
Giveaway Contest: We’re giving away fifteen vintage paperback classics by Maya Angelou, James Joyce, Jean Rhys, Albert Camus, Shakespeare, and others! Won’t this collection look lovely on your shelf? :D To win these classics, you must: 1) be following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblog this post. We will choose a random winner on June 30, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. And yes, we’ll ship to any country. Easy, right? Good luck!
Words of inspiration from Maya Angelou
Quote on forgiveness and learning from Maya Angelou