Written by: Naomi Edited by:Edwin
One Woman’s Success, Another’s Inspiration. Maya Angelou, one of the greatest African American women of our time, a very accomplished poet, dramatist, novelist and civil rights activist, Maya is known for this great repertoire of things that she’s has achieved and done, but on a more magnified scale the results of her strength and accomplishment in the face of diversity prove to be more than just events in history but a continuous ripple of inspiration to younger generations of young African American women seeking and finding their own voice.
Maya Angelou is a woman of many great talents and an unfathomable personal motivation to persevere regardless of circumstance. A few of Maya Angelou’s many accomplishments include, having a career in the performing arts as a dancer and singer, she became a part of the Harlem Writers Guild and even became an editor for a magazine in Cairo Egypt, the list certainly does not end there. When you analyze the life of Maya all there is to see is a continuous connection between the arts, knowledge, motivation, and incredible achievements, even while raising a son on her own. Maya can be seen as an artist of life, not just perfected in one medium but many, from writing, to dancing, to acting to, singing, to speaking; she saw her mediums and used everyone to the fullest. Maya Angelou is a woman who faced mountains and obstacles but didn’t back down, she viewed them as opportunities to persevere and create beauty in areas that lacked it. A young African American woman by the name of Natasha Keith is a direct result of this kind of perseverance. Natasha is a student at Pierce College and an accomplished young poet, who has won several young poet competitions. In her life she has faced many of her own trials and oppositions. In a short statement she was asked to sum up how great African American women writers, like Maya Angelou have influenced her in her own writing, this is what she had to say. “Many African women writers such as Alice Walker, Phillis Wheatley, Toni Morrison and most of all Maya Angelou have inspired me in my own writing. These women lived in a time where they were told that they could not write and be a great writer simply because they were black even so, they all wrote because they loved to write and what they were writing was honest and they did not care what others were telling them. That inspires me in my writing to make sure that I am writing because it is something I love. The women are also inspiring because they did not let anybody take what they loved away from them even when they were told they are wasting their time because it does not matter. They show me that my writing is my own and that if I like it then that is what counts and that if I’m doing it because in my heart I have a longing to do it then I should continue writing. In all I look up to these women because without their courage I would not be the courageous writer that I am today, writing with no limits and leaving no emotions out but rather just writing to simply write.”‐ Natasha Keith
As we applaud the accomplishments of great women such as Maya Angelou and many others, so often we only take notice of their personal success and how they have changed a piece of history, but there’s so much more to it than the story of one woman. It’s truly amazing to see the fruit of their labor, and how their personal strife and success has become a beacon of light for young women such as Natasha, who have the same strength and motivation in themselves and desire to make it known. Though these to women have never met and may never meet there is a bond that has been created because of the perseverance.The accomplishments of Maya Angelou are incredible and the ripple effect of her can do attitude to a younger generation of African American women continues to prove and show the beauty of learning the art of life.
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” ― Maya Angelou