When talking to Maya, Chappelle expressed that he became sensitive to the way his audience accepted his words or jokes and shared how painful it felt. As the conversation goes on, both Chappelle and Angelou spoke of other greats such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.  Chappelle tells her how much he admires these “true American phenomenons.”  While inspirational, the legacy they left us seems larger than life. Their level of greatness often feels too great to reach for the average young person today.

“This is why it is dangerous to make anybody seem larger than life,” says Maya.  “A young person coming up sees this larger than life person and says to himself, I can never be that.  I can never do that. The truth is, those men and those women were in the right place at the right time and they got hold of something.”

Every time she speaks in this interview, her words are golden.  Her advice is tried and true.  I’ve seen people train to play sports, learn how to play the guitar, and go to acting class.  I’ve seen people attend voice lessons, practice dancing, and take speech classes.  However, I’ve never seen anyone like Maya Angelou who could elicit words to pure perfection to any soul willing to listen. These golden words will forever inspire me. After all, as only she said it best, “people live in direct relation to the heroes and sheroes that they have.”

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Last week we lost a giant of great tradition – at least in her physical form. The New York Times called her a “lyrical witness” – a title befitting someone who so poignantly described the violence of Jim Crow while so vividly detailing the black experience through stories that energized hearts and souls. Before publishing her first work, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” she was a dancer, singer, single mother, and street car conductor on the West Coast. She lived abroad in places such as Egypt and Ghana, and was an activist with Dr. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. For us, she pulled her collection of realities together to speak directly into the souls of any who ached for a life of dignity. It was through her poetic range that she spoke to us in her language of radical self love that manifested as a universal love for all.

There is something about poetry that has always been unapologetic – standing in the face of oppression, whether in the physical or of the mind, and telling the truth. I have been a writer for about as long as I have been politically engaged. I have come to learn that both elements give equal energy to litigating, understanding, and lifting up the concerns of everyday people. Just as my literary interest is fed by Angelou, Baraka, and Hooks, I am also persistently reminded to be critical of myself and the world around me. To know and respect the labor of those who struggle. To understand the importance of place and of memory. And above all, to love. Poetry in the African-American tradition has always been inextricably connected to politics. Remember that Maya Angelou not only encouraged us to “rise,” she also balanced her integrity by matching her work with her words, working alongside both Dr. King and X, supporting her brother Amiri Baraka (who we also lost this year), and mentoring a new generation of those who strive up until the day she died.

How do we best celebrate the life of Maya Angelou? What would be the proper tribute to this “lyrical witness?” Let us find a place for our words to align with our actions – a place where we, as Gandhi put it, we can be the change we want to see in this world. We need it now more than ever.

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WASHINGTON, DC, May 28, 2014 – A. Shuanise Washington, President and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF) released the following statement on the passing of Dr. Maya Angelou, author and legendary poet laureate.

“CBCF is deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Maya Angelou. We join the millions around the world to honor the life and mourn the loss of a great artist and humanitarian.

“Her words narrated her personal journey for justice, education and equality while helping to shape the Civil Rights Movement. She leaves behind a body of work that influenced generations.

“Our thoughts and heartfelt prayers are with Dr. Angelou’s family and the many people the world over, whose lives she touched.”

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