A Night with Dr. Maya Angelou

I will briefly write about my night out tonight. I am so excited and inspired to say that I spent an hour tonight, one amazing hour, sitting with Dr. Angelou as she told stories of her life, her lessons, wisdom, poetry, her own inspirations. Her message tonight was about finding that "rainbow in your cloud." She described it as an opportunity or a person that lead the way and opened doors you wouldn't have otherwise seen. I found this greatly inspiring as that is precisely what I plan to do with my life after college. I plan on using my degree in psychology to be with people, help people, and guide people, primarily adolescents. She also said that no matter what tries to bring you down, whatever hardships you may have going on, look to poetry. Poetry will guide you through and everything will be ok. Her best description tonight of that ideal is when she described one of Shakespeare's sonnets. She said "wow, that must be a young black girl who had been raped, just like me." Of course, this was before she knew who Shakespeare was, before he was actually an older white guy in England. She was amazed that this white man 500 years ago could write and say exactly what she was feeling as a young black girl who had been raped. This is a very interesting thing to think about. She ended the night by saying that no matter what, poetry allows us to believe that people are so alike when they are not. By this she means, though you're a completely different person, you could very possibly have the same feelings as someone else in some other situation. We are never alone in our strifes, look to poetry and you will find guidance and hope.
One of my favorite quotes from the night: "I like this freedom thing. We think we are free and sit back and let it be. Well, let me tell you, I'm trying to be Christian. I laugh when people tell me 'oh, I'm a Christian' I just say 'Is that right?' " The idea she is getting across with this is that we cannot expect to be free if we are not constantly fighting for our freedom. We must fight for it, earn it, everyday. This is truly something I believe, especially after tonight.
I felt so honored to have been in the mere presence of Dr. Angelou, I cried when she walked onto the stage. I'm such a sap, such a fanatic. Star crazed you could say. However, tonight was especially special. Tonight was the VERY FIRST TIME she had worn her Medal of Freedom. This was such a good thing to know. To know that I was in the room when she put it on for the first time. This historical moment in time, a crucial moment in our country's history, I was there. How many times can anybody say that? How many times can we say we were there when such an awesome thing occurred. Not that many, but I can, at least about tonight.

Another thing she brought up was a story of an uncle of hers. He was disabled, handicapped and taught her her times tables. She said he would grab her by the back of the neck and tell her in his slurred speech which one to do next. Angelou learned her multiplication quickly and well, simply because if she messed up he would squeeze her neck. What is so significant of this story is that later in her life, when she went to claim the land that she had lived on with her uncle and grandmother, she stopped in Little Rock, AR (Her grandmother had lived in a tiny village in Arkansas as well). In Little Rock, she met up with her friend Daisy Bates (look her up!) who introduced her to loads of people, one of which being a man who said that he knew her uncle. This surprised her because her uncle never left town, it was too hard on him to travel very far.  So how did this man know him? He was also taught his times tables by this uncle of hers, I forget the details but it seems that there was a family friendship that was going there. This man told her "If it hadn't have been for him, I wouldn't be the man I am today. The mayor of Little Rock." He was the first black mayor of this town. He set Dr. Angelou up with eight police escorts and she was taken to an attorney who helped her with her property. He told her that the man she met in Little Rock taught him his times tables. The same way her uncle had before. This attorney stated that he wouldn't be the man HE is today without that man. Though the attorney was white, it is still nice to know that he was part of the state courts. He had moved up into state court and owed it all to the man who taught him multiplication. Later she met another man, at former president Clinton's inauguration, where she read a poem for him. This man (also a state attorney) and his family told her that it was his family member that helped her with her property- the attorney. So through the course of her lifetime, she found that her handicapped, disabled uncle had influenced the lives of so many people.
The final message I got tonight from Dr. Maya Angelou was "be somebody's rainbow in their cloud." Be that person who opens that door for someone. Change someone's life, make an impact, inspire somebody. Take the initiative to guide. I am pleased to say that I fully intend on doing just that. May you all take the same road. Peace and God Bless.

The first post.

As the first post of mine on this blog, I will just take the opportunity to say hello. Thank you for stopping by. I'm writing here for a number of reasons. First of all, it means everyone gets a choice as to whether or not they read this, unlike a general hourly posting on FB or otherwise. I will be attempting to keep a weekly log of many things. I will either write about my experiences in the real world, feature friends of mine or people I encounter in general. However, I will be maintaining the privacy of my friends if that is the route I choose to go. As a college student, I may also write about what I am studying, and possibly envoke my readers to do some questioning, or if they choose, write me about what they think. I'm excited to start this blog, as there are so many things I wish to say but never have the avenue to do so. Let's see where this goes. Wish me luck and I hope to receive comments and questions. You can even give me ideas on what to write about, and I may just do my research and write about it.... if it's a reasonable topic. Thank you and I hope my posts inspire you.