And she did not want us to replace activism with optimism, to turn our hopes for the future into an excuse for not creating change in the present. Maya Angelou left us with these words to help us rise above the worst - in our days, in ourselves, in others.īut by asking us to rise above the worst, she did not mean for us to simply accept the unacceptable. She did not want citizens to slip into indifference and oblivion. But it is only with courage that you can be persistently and insistently kind and generous and fair. You can be kind for a while you can be generous for a while you can be just for a while, or merciful for a while, even loving for a while. Because without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue consistently. I am convinced that courage is the most important of all the virtues. She was a leader who impacted Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Oprah Winfrey, and President Barack Obama.Īnd she believed there was one key to unlocking human potential: Throughout her life, she had many careers as a poet, civil rights activist, and author of her famous autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. President Barack Obama kisses Maya Angelou after awarding her the 2010 Medal of Freedom.
