A Tribute

Thursday, May 28, 2014
Statement from Dr. Maya Angelou’s Family:
Dr. Maya Angelou passed quietly in her home before 8:00 a.m. EST. Her family is extremely grateful that her ascension was not belabored by a loss of acuity or comprehension. She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace. The family is extremely appreciative of the time we had with her and we know that she is looking down upon us with love.
Guy B. Johnson

A great  woman, teacher, warrior, peace maker and keeper, artist, activist, and beautiful soul slipped away this morning from us.  She will be missed.  Her words, both spoken and written, gave me courage to believe in myself.  She was an icon, a hero, and I felt a deep kinship to her through her words.  She spoke and wrote of things I understood.  She stood for equality in all walks of life.  She was strong, and her strength was made real by her gentle and loving spirit.  

I am having difficulty imaging a world without her in it.  I woke today, a day after her death, and realized just what gifts she left if the wake of her life.  An extraordinary woman she touched and influenced many generations of people.

She understood others feelings and in that understanding she found common ground between all others.  She said, "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."  Her words and actions were often direct and forceful and yet she spoke to the gentle human heart.

She said that "there is no greater agony than being inside an untold story" so she told us her story. She reminded us that, "You can shoot me with your words, You can cut me with your eyes, You can kill me with your hatefulness, But still like air I'll rise".  And so she rose...

Nothing could contain her indomitable spirit.  "You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies, you may tread me in the very dirt but still, like dust, I'll rise."  And again she rose... and she continued to have the courage to love one more time; always one more time.

She had learned the lessons that only unconditional love can teach, and in that learning she met the world with that same love time and time again.  And still she rises....She trusted, believed, and dreamed.  She made a life for herself and inspired those who touched that life.  And all who did also rose in the ripple, the air, and the dust of this great woman's being.

"It's in the click of my heals.  The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand. The need for my care.  'Cause I'm a woman.  Phenomenally.  Phenomenal woman.  That's me."  Maya Angelou.  And she was and is. Because of her courage and her words all of us are better, brighter, stronger, kinder, gentler human beings.  Her life and her passing have left the world a far better place...