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Maya Angelou is an author, historian, poet, playwright, dancer, songwriter, performer, singer, director, stage and screen producer, and civil rights activist. She is one of the most influential black women of her time and mine. And I have found great comfort in her poems during this devastating, ongoing issue of police brutality on black lives. I am often asked to “choose a side” when it comes to black rights and women’s rights, but I will not longer accept the notion that my existence is either or. I am both black AND a woman. Let Maya Angelou remind all of my black sisters that we are beautiful, we are loved, and that we are powerful beyond measure.<\/p>\n
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Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou<\/strong><\/p>\n Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not cute or built to suit a fashion model\u2019s size<\/p>\n But when I start to tell them,<\/p>\n They think I\u2019m telling lies.<\/p>\n I say,<\/p>\n It\u2019s in the reach of my arms,<\/p>\n The span of my hips,<\/p>\n The stride of my step,<\/p>\n The curl of my lips.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a woman<\/p>\n Phenomenally.<\/p>\n Phenomenal woman,<\/p>\n That\u2019s me.<\/p>\n \n I walk into a room<\/p>\n Just as cool as you please,<\/p>\n And to a man,<\/p>\n The fellows stand or<\/p>\n Fall down on their knees.<\/p>\n Then they swarm around me,<\/p>\n A hive of honey bees.<\/p>\n I say,<\/p>\n It\u2019s the fire in my eyes,<\/p>\n And the flash of my teeth,<\/p>\n The swing in my waist,<\/p>\n And the joy in my feet.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a woman<\/p>\n Phenomenally.<\/p>\n \n Phenomenal woman,<\/p>\n That\u2019s me.<\/p>\n \n Men themselves have wondered<\/p>\n What they see in me.<\/p>\n They try so much<\/p>\n But they can\u2019t touch<\/p>\n My inner mystery.<\/p>\n When I try to show them,<\/p>\n They say they still can\u2019t see.<\/p>\n I say,<\/p>\n It\u2019s in the arch of my back,<\/p>\n The sun of my smile,<\/p>\n The ride of my breasts,<\/p>\n The grace of my style.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a woman<\/p>\n Phenomenally.<\/p>\n Phenomenal woman,<\/p>\n That\u2019s me.<\/p>\n \n Now you understand<\/p>\n Just why my head\u2019s not bowed.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t shout or jump about<\/p>\n Or have to talk real loud.<\/p>\n When you see me passing,<\/p>\n It ought to make you proud.<\/p>\n I say,<\/p>\n It\u2019s in the click of my heels,<\/p>\n The bend of my hair,<\/p>\n the palm of my hand,<\/p>\n The need for my care.<\/p>\n \u2019Cause I\u2019m a woman<\/p>\n Phenomenally.<\/p>\n Phenomenal woman,<\/p>\n That\u2019s me.<\/p>\n \n Still I Rise by Maya Angelou\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n You may write me down in history Does my sassiness upset you? Just like moons and like suns, Did you want to see me broken? Does my haughtiness offend you? You may shoot me with your words, Does my sexiness upset you? Out of the huts of history’s shame \n Maya Angelou is an author, historian, poet, playwright, dancer, songwriter, performer, singer, director, stage and screen producer, and civil rights activist. She is one of the most influential black women of her time and mine. And I have found great comfort in her poems during this devastating, ongoing issue of police brutality on black lives. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWith your bitter, twisted lies,
\nYou may trod me in the very dirt
\nBut still, like dust, I’ll rise.<\/p>\n
\nWhy are you beset with gloom?
\n‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
\nPumping in my living room.<\/p>\n
\nWith the certainty of tides,
\nJust like hopes springing high,
\nStill I’ll rise.<\/p>\n
\nBowed head and lowered eyes?
\nShoulders falling down like teardrops.
\nWeakened by my soulful cries.<\/p>\n
\nDon’t you take it awful hard
\n‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
\nDiggin’ in my own back yard.<\/p>\n
\nYou may cut me with your eyes,
\nYou may kill me with your hatefulness,
\nBut still, like air, I’ll rise.<\/p>\n
\nDoes it come as a surprise
\nThat I dance like I’ve got diamonds
\nAt the meeting of my thighs?<\/p>\n
\nI rise
\nUp from a past that’s rooted in pain
\nI rise
\nI’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
\nWelling and swelling I bear in the tide.
\nLeaving behind nights of terror and fear
\nI rise
\nInto a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
\nI rise
\nBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
\nI am the dream and the hope of the slave.
\nI rise
\nI rise
\nI rise.<\/p>\n![\"D\"](\"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/D.png\")
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