Maya Angelou
Bella Adams
Created on February 26, 2021
Genially about the amazing poet and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou.
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Transcript
Maya Angelou
POET SPOTLIGHT:
About Maya Angelou
"Still I Rise"
Video
"Phenomenal Woman"
"Caged Bird"
An excerpt from "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky. But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
An excerpt from "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
Maya Angelou was an American poet, author, director, and civil rights activist. Angelou is best known for her seven autobiographical books which discuss her experiences as a child and young adult. In particular, she received international acclaim and recognition for her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and upon Martin Luther King Jr.’s request, she became coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1959. She wrote and recited a poem at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993 at his request, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of freedom in 2010 by President Barack Obama.
An excerpt from "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wellsPumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops,Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you?Don’t you take it awful hard’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold minesDiggin’ in my own backyard. .... I riseUp from a past that’s rooted in painI riseI’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that’s wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.