15 - Missouri, Maya Angelou
My college state … Missouri was a new home for me. Bringing me into the South, I felt a new culture and community. And I do think she was felt by all. She was the voice of a century of change. So interesting.
Missouri was the 11th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on July 3, 1919.
Maya Angelou was a prolific writer that shared her life experiences through seven autobiographies along with many others. Her hard life hit harder at 8 years old when her mother’s boyfriend raped. When released one day later from prison, he was found murdered. Fearing her admission to the family caused his death, she vowed silence to ensure not to send anyone else to their death.
Though she was open through her writing of the experiences that formed her and the times of her life, she was very private about much of her life including her marriages. She worked in the sex trade as a prostitute for lesbian women, sharing these experiences in her autobiography, “Gather Together In My Name”.
But her writing and voice were felt by many throughout her career. She spoke constantly into her 80’s in public readings and lectures around the country. She was honored speaker at many events including President George Clinton’s inaugural address. Her line of friendships was deep with political and influential people including Martin Luther King Jr. , Coretta King and Oprah. Sharing her stories opened people to the life of America in the 20th Century for a black woman. Her poetics changed the course of literature.
Angelou had a ritual to complete her writing. From a hotel room, she sat in a nondescript rooms with no pictures on the walls. Writing on legal pads from the bed, she played solitaire to take her into her memories. This process she referred to as “enchanting” herself, to “relive the agony, the anguish”. She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even traumatic experiences in order to “tell the human truth” about her life. Angelou stated that she played cards in order to get to that place of enchantment and in order to access her memories more effectively. She said, “It may take an hour to get into it, but once I’m in it—ha! It’s so delicious!” She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in “telling the truth”.
Why this woman?
Even reading her biography on Wikipedia is like a poem. She made hardships a narrative that she was willing to travel back into to share her sights and experiences. She saw a life that is closed to us all. She shared with candor, but importance.
I lived in Missouri for college and the presence of Maya Angelou was definitely palpable. It was a very new culture to me coming from small town Washington. I can’t imagine a life lived that is as personal, meaningful, and indicative of a time. And she shared it all in poetry and prose. May her words never be silenced.
Missouri was the 11th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on July 3, 1919.
Maya Angelou was a prolific writer that shared her life experiences through seven autobiographies along with many others. Her hard life hit harder at 8 years old when her mother’s boyfriend raped. When released one day later from prison, he was found murdered. Fearing her admission to the family caused his death, she vowed silence to ensure not to send anyone else to their death.
Though she was open through her writing of the experiences that formed her and the times of her life, she was very private about much of her life including her marriages. She worked in the sex trade as a prostitute for lesbian women, sharing these experiences in her autobiography, “Gather Together In My Name”.
But her writing and voice were felt by many throughout her career. She spoke constantly into her 80’s in public readings and lectures around the country. She was honored speaker at many events including President George Clinton’s inaugural address. Her line of friendships was deep with political and influential people including Martin Luther King Jr. , Coretta King and Oprah. Sharing her stories opened people to the life of America in the 20th Century for a black woman. Her poetics changed the course of literature.
Angelou had a ritual to complete her writing. From a hotel room, she sat in a nondescript rooms with no pictures on the walls. Writing on legal pads from the bed, she played solitaire to take her into her memories. This process she referred to as “enchanting” herself, to “relive the agony, the anguish”. She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even traumatic experiences in order to “tell the human truth” about her life. Angelou stated that she played cards in order to get to that place of enchantment and in order to access her memories more effectively. She said, “It may take an hour to get into it, but once I’m in it—ha! It’s so delicious!” She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in “telling the truth”.
Why this woman?
Even reading her biography on Wikipedia is like a poem. She made hardships a narrative that she was willing to travel back into to share her sights and experiences. She saw a life that is closed to us all. She shared with candor, but importance.
I lived in Missouri for college and the presence of Maya Angelou was definitely palpable. It was a very new culture to me coming from small town Washington. I can’t imagine a life lived that is as personal, meaningful, and indicative of a time. And she shared it all in poetry and prose. May her words never be silenced.
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