Lessons from a Master Teacher:
Expressions of
Enduring Gratitude for the Life and Legacy of
Dr. Maya Angelou – Part Two
Angelou’s fourth autobiographical volume is my favorite of
her books, The Heart of a Woman. I first read this book as an undergraduate
when I took an African American Women Literature class. She chronicles her journey of defeating fear
in daily living. There are vivid scenes
in which she confronts her husband at that time about his intractable
infidelities and even more savage indifference to her humiliation and pain
resulting from his willful indiscretions.
In the evenings upon his return home, his shirts and clothing reek of
other women’s perfumes. Literally,
Angelou explores the deep, dark, mysterious and confusing heart of a woman as
she juxtaposes love, respect, trust, duty and honor with his arrogant and
unrepentant transgressions. Arguably, in
the most poignant scene in the book, Angelou and her mother are on an elevator
discussing life. Her mother senses the
tremendous fear that imprisons Angelou.
Her mother exhorts her to overcome her trepidation about making a
proactive decision to embrace a better life.
As I read this passage, I mystically joined Angelou and her
mother in the elevator. I felt the near
debilitating and paralyzing fear she experienced. I felt moisture in my arm pits and dampness
soaking my shirt collar. I, too, wished
the elevator ride would last interminably as it delays the need for a
decision. Actually, I would write my
final paper about this scene. Moreover,
following college and graduate school, I experienced directly the incapacitating
feeling of making fear larger than life itself.
During those brief, arduous and tortuous years, I drew upon Angelou’s
strength and example as I recalled her story.
I imagine innumerable readers and admirers of her work acquired similar
inspiration and wisdom to resolve life’s most demeaning and dangerous emotion,
fear. Imagine daily living without
feeling any fear! Think of the
immeasurable joy that fear steals from you.
Whereas Angelou cannot assure you of a life totally free from fear, she
definitely and powerfully defeats fear in daily living. Her formidable experiences offer hope and
insight in annihilating daily Goliaths of fears, life’s most insidious and irrational
enemy.
“On the Pulse of the Morning” is a poem about genuine
inclusivity, diversity and pluralism as the global village transforms each
citizen of the world into a neighbor. This
prophetic and stimulating poem concludes with an exhortation to say “Good
morning” to anyone whom you encounter in daily affairs. Angelou reminds us that saying “Hello”
recognizes and dignifies each member of the human family. Quite possibly, this simple act of manners
minimizes prevalent xenophobia that threatens our human family.
Angelou through the eloquence of her poetry confronts the
bloody violence and murderous evil of the twentieth century, the deadliest time
in human history given two World Wars, conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Africa and
Central and South America.
Notwithstanding previously unimaginable technological, scientific,
economic, demographical and geopolitical advances in the last century, it is
truly sobering to consider the tens of millions loss lives sacrificed by human
hubris, greed, bigotry and imperialism. The
inability to see other people as God’s children and our brothers and sisters eventuates
in their demonization and annihilation.
Some of the greatest crimes against humankind originate with heresy and
blasphemy that God loves selectively and thus approves eradication of certain
branches of the human family. However
simplistic, just saying “Good morning” to each brother and sister whom you
encounter serves to erode jingoism, elitism, classism and many other forms of
xenophobia. As we are The Closest of Strangers in the work and
words of the journalist and author, Jim Sleeper, a hearty and sincere “Good
morning” potentially transforms us into neighbors. The judgment of history, I predict, will
commend Angelou for establishing this central standard of civility which necessarily
yields truth, respect and justice in the permanent setting of the global
village.
Maya Angelou insisted upon being called “Dr. Angelou” within
her professorial setting and other public contexts particularly by members of
the press corps. Embedded within an
obituary published in a national daily newspaper, a grossly unfair critique
chided her for this insistence.
Perchance, cultural dissonance explains the reporter’s perspective which
could not appreciate the necessity of Angelou’s demand. “Dr. Angelou” personified a healthy,
successful, venerated and increasingly whole person who triumphed over trauma
and truly humble origins. The
experiential knowledge of her most remarkable story feasibly surpasses any
theoretical information she may have obtained in a traditional doctoral
program, the usual prerogative of students from middle strata or higher
backgrounds. Angelou’s original work,
background and extensive experiences uniquely and equally qualified her with
any other member of Wake Forest University’s faculty. In her insistence that she be addressed
formally, Angelou actually rebuffs the arrogance of false humility. Rather, she demonstrates genuineness as she
deserved her classification and designation which she painstakingly
earned. Should readers and admirers of
her work glean her example of true unpretentiousness, they may find a similar
inner fortitude to actualize their dreams and goals.
A master teacher whose life lessons and body of work
enduringly offers hope to average people, Angelou’s profundity emerges from her
significant simplicity. The
grandiloquent retrospectives, published immediately following her death,
regrettably overlook her humanness. In
the words of Harry Stack Sullivan, she was “simply human.” Though a traumatized, violated, fearful and
mute little girl of humble beginnings eventually became “Dr. Maya Angelou,” the
tragic and triumphant lessons of her life remains accessible and inspiring to
each of the seven billion plus members of the global village.
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