Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Nothing policital here. Just my favorite poem by Ms. Angelou. That is all...

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Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

OC Activist Wants to Ban Maya Angelou

I LOVE to read. I have since I was a kid. I'm usually not discriminate about the book either. I wonder what books I would have missed out on if people like the ones in the article below had their way.

I have read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and thought it was one of Ms. Angelou's best works. I read her book when I was in 8th grade. Does the book address molestation, rape and teen pregnancy? Yes. Does it do it in a way that is celebrating these topics? NO.

Why do people think they have a right to limit what others can read, say or do? If you don't want your child to read Ms Angelou's book then don't let them read it. If another parent feels their child is mature enough for the subject matter then that is that parent's call. Even the article mentions the book in question has been checked out 5 times in the last 5 years. Hmmmm...doesn't sound like all the little kiddies are lining up to check this one out. But this activist wants to ban it?

Get over yourself!

Teach your children what is appropriate and what isn't. Leave parenting to the individual parents and stop intruding on other's right to choose their own reading materials. Book banning is wrong!

Follow the link below to read the article. That is all...




abc7.com:
OC activists want Angelou book removed
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=7074967

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