In 2011 Oprah aired a show with Maya Angelou called Master Class. I was so enthralled with Angelou's infectious profundities in that episode, I became hooked on the whole series. In honor of her passing, I re-watched the episode last night.
Angelou talks about how much she loves aging. She loved her 70s and was excited about her 80s. She was writing music, poetry and publishing a cookbook. In her lifetime, she published 30 books. She died at age 86.
In the poetry world, I found that you either loved Maya Angelou or you didn't. I often heard critics charge her with simplicity and sentimentality. However, she used poetry not to challenge language but to challenge hatred. She wrote to teach. She wrote to help. She was one of those people with an amazing presence. Oprah said she carried herself with an "unshakable calm and fierce grace."
She spoke 6 languages and worked with both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. She was also a singer and a dancer. Although she initially made a living as a singer, she said, "you can only become great at things you're willing to sacrifice for."
She gave the inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton. She also recited a poem for the world at the request of The United Nations. She said when she was working on these public poems, she spoke to priests, rabbis and many people. She generously opened the poem up to other ideas beyond her own.
In Master Class, she recited Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 ("When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes") from memory and later said:
"Words are things. I'm convinced….Someday we'll be able to measure the power of words. I think they get in the walls. They get in the wallpaper. They get in your rugs, in the upholstery, in your clothes, and finally into you."
She bravely spoke about humility. Irreplaceable Maya Angelou. She was poem unto herself. She was an ambassador and a blessing.
Watch an excerpt of Master Class.
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