A powerful quote by Maya Angelou — short, direct, and full of courage.

Maya Angelou was a truly remarkable figure — a poet, memoirist, singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, she became most famous for her powerful autobiographical works, especially her groundbreaking 1969 memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

She had an extraordinary life — she was the first Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco, lived in Ghana for several years, worked with both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and read one of her poems (On the Pulse of Morning) at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration in 1993.

Much of her work deals with themes of identity, racism, trauma, resilience, and the beauty and power of the human spirit — all delivered in her uniquely elegant, fierce, and compassionate voice.

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