A Legacy Of Love

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                  Statement from Dr. Maya Angelou’s Family:

“Dr. Maya Angelou passed quietly in her home on May, 28th before 8 a.m. EST. 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.”

A Legacy of Love

Born in St. Louis, but living much of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas during the 30’s, Maya Angelou experienced poverty, discrimination and racism first hand; but she also assimilated a much more potent elixir of family values mixed with the faith of the African American culture, which would shape her legacy of peace, tolerance, equality, creativity and love.

  “Until blacks and whites see each other as brother and sister,

we will not have parity. It's very clear.”

Maya’s first love was the arts, and while her life took a reality detour (working as a waitress and cook) out of the pure necessity of surviving as a single mother, creativity continued to pulse through her veins and eventually could no longer be contained.

                         “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer,                           it sings because it has a song”

And sing she did; and she danced, acted and composed, directed and wrote off-Broadway productions as well as screenplays and feature films. In the world of prose, Maya wrote books in fiction, non-fiction and poetic verse, and acted as an editor. Dr. Angelou also organized, coordinated, and lead several organizations dedicated to the compassion and equality of all humanity.

             

  “There is no greater agony than bearing an   

      untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou lived life with zest, traveling extensively and learning many languages and cultures. In her lifetime, she was able to touch the lives of many and associate with many world leaders including Bill Clinton, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. I in no way could ever confirm this, but my intuition is that none of that was important to her in her last waking hours. Maya Angelou, in her words and actions, was all about compassion, love, empathy and equitable fairness, traits that kept her grounded and above the trappings of material success and living for achievement.     
                       

                "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud."

As you can well see, I’ve tried to get as many quotes in here from Maya as possible, for her energy and loving essence oozed forth from her prose. While humbled and honored to have my words on the same page as Dr. Angelou’s, they just seem a bit pale by comparison.

               “Have enough courage to trust love one more time

                                and always one more time.”

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

What is our legacy going to be? What kind of stamp are we placing on the world as we know it? For me it’s not so much about what we do, but instead who we are and how we make others feel. How do we show up and model life to others? You don’t have to be famous or larger than life, as Maya was, in order to live the right way and exude a positive example. You never know when you’ll impact the right person at the right time, and maybe change their life in some very miraculous way.

        “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.”

PS: The world lost a great Ambassador for Humanity the day Maya Angelou transitioned, but Heaven surely gained a powerful Angel...