Original article appeared on The Jon S. Randal Peace Page
She was raped at the age of 8. Her rapist was found guilty,
but spent only one day in jail.
After he was released, he was murdered.
Because of this, she became mute for almost 5 years, believing her “voice killed him.”
“I killed him that man. Because I told his name.
And, then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice
would kill anyone …”
Her name was Marguerite Ann Johnson.
Later in life, she would change her name . . . to Maya Angelou.
During this time, this period of suffering, this period of shame and guilt, this period of silence that she “developed her extraordinary memory,
her love for books and literature, and her ability to listen and observe the world around her.”
A teacher and friend of the family helped Angelou speak again, introducing her to the world of books
with authors such as Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.
When she finally did speak, she said she had a lot to say.
Maya Angelou became a voice for women, a voice for the black community, garnering respect and admiration for her honesty.
She would say, “There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.”
Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, to write an autobiography, which became “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”.
The book would be critically acclaimed, but banned in schools and libraries because of its honest depiction of rape.
When asked by an interviewer why she wrote about the experience, she indicated that she wanted to demonstrate the complexities of rape.
She also wanted to prevent it from happening to someone else, so that anyone who had been raped might gain understanding and not blame herself for it.
She would also later write another book titled “Letter to My Daughter”, which was dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her.
In the book, she says, “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
She would also write in her poem,
“And, Still I Rise”:
“Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries…
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…”
“This exercise requires no movement, no thinking and most of all no judgement or evaluation” After you are awake and you realize you live in a miracle, everything is inter-connected and there is always a choice, do the following: Watch a creature, a bird, an ant, a dog, person or ...
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” It is my experience ...
As i began living my 74th year, years, months, hours and minutes have all become much less significant. As i focus on how i am being in this second, i find my clarity around how the world is doing sharpened considerably. How about you? ...
As in Who Gives a Crap! This is what corporate responsibility looks like: https://us.whogivesacrap.org/pages/about-us Recently i received notice that the company had donated another half a million dollars to create toilets for those 2.3 Billion who do not have one. Their products are outstanding and ecologically sound. Would you like ...
Yesterday, a relatively powerful storm interrupted electrical power to 219,000 households in Maine. Today, some were told that it may be three days until power is restored. Globally, 1.2 Billion people have little or no access to power at all. Perhaps we might want to think from time to time ...
There are a million differentiated colors on display in New England in the US at this time of year! And this has been a spectacular demonstration of the beauty in our world this year! In my experience it is nothing compared to the miracle of you! ...
Right this second you are participating in an absolute miracle. The question is, do you experience it? If you are able to see, a collection of between 10 and 50 trillion cells are organized so well that you can see, read and understand these words. Can you "see" (pun intended) ...
It doesn’t sound like much. Or does it. To me, each breath means I am still alive and that life itself is miraculous. What could be more practical or more magical than the experience that this second, this breath is a miracle? ...
Evil is a concept begun to allow us to act as if it were a force beyond our influence. Nothing could be further from the truth. The moment I realize every action I take is important, contributes either positively or negatively to the world, evil has no power. Whose responsibility ...
In the situations I have witnessed, there is no divine intervention. All we have is each other. We create our own problems, and it is up to us to solve them. Deliberately to remove oneself from this dialogue is a way of turning one’s back and confirms the sad proposition ...
