Maya Angelou was an acclaimed author, poet, and civil rights activist, famously known for her powerful spoken-word pieces as well as her many books. When did Maya Angelou began speaking again seemed to be a mystery for many years. In fact, in the early 1990s, Angelou had to temporarily quit speaking out loud!.
At the age of eight, Angelou’s voice was taken away from her after a traumatic experience. The incident which rended her speechless also left her in a state of mute for five years. Over time, her family and close friends tried their utmost to help keep her spirits high and let her express her emotions through different activities such as writing and journaling. An act which helped bring her voice back but wouldn’t allow her to speak out loud for many years.
In the summer of 1993, Angelou finally had the chance to express her voice again for public consumption. On one particular day that summer, Angelou was approached by a New York publisher in which she was offered a place to perform a poetry reading. Without hesitation, Angelou accepted the kind offer and began writing down her own pieces in hope of sounding out loud to the world again.
After penned her written works, Angelou began her journey to New York to make her long awaited return on the performing stage. In pure joy and excitement, the usually stoic Angelou had a grin on her face as she rehearsed her speeches and read aloud the written works. In the end, Angelou was successful and her spoken word reading was widely accepted by her audience.
Throughout that influential summer, Angelou steadily held public readings and became known again as the powerful voice and activist that the world was so familiar with. Following the summer of 1993, Angelou never looked back and continued her journey in the literary and activist world, proving time after time that her eloquence and lyrical prowess was here to stay.
What Drove Maya Angelou to Speak Again?
The boldness and courage of Maya Angelou to speak back out loud to the world is admirable, but that begs the important question of what pushed Angelou to finally find her voice? In her various memoirs and writings, Angelou discussed the importance of community, friendship, and love to finding her voice again. Wanting to use her voice to support, inspire, and bring forward positive change pushed Angelou to take the leap of faith and speak in front of an audience.
Angelou bravely discussed the push and pull of finding her voice and the importance of writing down her thoughts in journals and on paper. Through the help of her mentors and family members, Angelou was able to express her emotions through writing and this eventually led her to find her lost eloquence. Without the continuous support of her community, it’s unlikely Angelou would’ve gotten the courage and support she needed to speak out again.
In her book “Letter to My Daughter” Angelou beautifully discusses the necessity of finding a support system. The importance of developing a personal trust circle to share thoughts, feelings, and experiences gave Angelou the extra push that motivated her to find her true voice. For Angelou, her friends, family, mentors, colleagues, peers, and supporters ultimately led her to make the courageous step of speaking out against the world.
How Did Angelou Find her Voice?
In her book, “Letter to My Daughter,” Angelou discussed the importance of writing down her thoughts, emotions, and experiences in order to truly use her voice to its full potential. By putting pen to paper, Angelou felt that she was able to explore her thoughts more effectively and express her emotions in a way that was free of judgment and eyes.
Through writing, Angelou was able to explore her ideas with a more personal focus, which helped her understand herself better. The more Angelou wrote, the more her words began to become more meaningful and effective in helping her bridge the gap of her lost eloquence. By allowing her moments of silence, Angelou was able to connect with her feelings, motives, and ultimate objectives in order to gain confidence to speak out again.
On top of writing in her journey to find her voice, Angelou also found solace in reading out aloud. The idea of reading out loud allowed Angelou to slowly increase her volume and vocabulary in order to slowly regain her lost eloquence and regain her public speaking confidence. Angelou’s journey to finding her voice was all about creating a foundation of trust between, herself, the written words, and speaking out before the world again.
How Did Angelou’s Voice Grow?
Angelou’s presence grew dramatically leading up to late 90s because of her powerful eloquence in expressing her thoughts and ideas. After taking the leap of faith back in 1993, Angelou slowly grew her confidence and poise to slowly become the international public figure admired by many.
Through her unique writing and literary pieces, Angelou slowly molded her voice to become even more powerful, poetic, and meaningful. Angelou gradually crafted her voice to resume the captivating form of hers that drew in masses of supporters and readers. As a result, Angelou began taking her voice in different directions, going as far as performing spoken word pieces and presidential addresses.
When she was invited to deliver an address at the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton, Angelou powerfully addressed the nation and used her eloquence to perfectly capture not just the situation of the day but also the emotions and desires of the American public. By consistently writing and speaking out loud, Angelou simultaneously expanded her vocal range and created a legacy that continues to remain alive today.
The Legacy of her Voice
Angelou’s voice and legacy continues to remain alive due to her powerful ability to capture certain emotions and feelings in her pieces. Whether it was her work during the civil rights movement or her iconic poems that are taught and studied in classrooms, Angelou’s art still manages to captivate an audience.
The sheer empowering nature of Angelou’s art acts as an everlasting beacon of spirit to be felt and experienced by the many generations to come. Through her work Angelou serves not only as a model of how literature can be used to express deep emotions and messages, but also how love, kindness, and communication can be used to transcend even the toughest of situations.
Angelou’s spiritual and moving words are evidence of her tremendous ability to not just find her voice, but to use it to create meaningful pieces that we can all learn and live by. As long as her words are remembered and her messages are passed on, may her self-expression and eloquence live on forever.
The Fight for Equal Rights and Justice
Through her writing and eventual powerful speeches, Angelou became a driving force behind the civil rights movement in wanting to make the world a better place for people of colour. With her unique ability to captivate her audience with her words, Angelou began to take on the fight for equality and justice for all.
Angelou never held back and always spoke out against any forms of discrimination and oppression. Through her criticism of the government and the systematic oppression of marginalized communities, she pushed for a more equal and just world. Along with her activism in the field, Angelou also wrote books and journaled her thoughts in order to further her fight with her own personal style.
Angelou used her newfound voice to motivate people to make positive and conscious changes in society which would help benefit all in the long run. With her heavy involvement in the civil rights movement, Angelou eventually achieved the justice she wanted and worked to attain, making her voice an inspiration to many and a true symbol of progress and freedom.
The Message Behind the Voice
At the core of Angelou’s powerful works was the overall message of hope, courage, and kindness. Not matter what dispute, people from all sides of the arguments often found themselves being grounded back to the same message after hearing one of Angelou’s powerful speeches or reading one of her unique and creative literary pieces.
The profound messages within Angelou’s work brought members of different socio-economic backgrounds under the same banner and allowed people to rise up and fight for justice and equality. At the end of the day, Angelou’s message of freedom and equal representation brought forward a sense of unity that acted as a reminder for the entire world to be kinder, humbler, and of course, more courageous.
Angelou’s message of kindness and peace continue to live on today, leading the fight against injustices and ultimately, building a better world. It’s safe to say that no one captured, shaped and shared their views on difference and the power of unity quite like Angelou and it’s all due to her brave decision to speak out loud once again in 1993.
