Life Lessons I Learned From A Great African American Female Mentor

Shout out to google for the epic video tribute I saw when starting my web search on the day commemorating Maya Angelou’s 90th birthday.

So many emotions welled up and spilled over when reading the words of the poem. It expresses, self-respect, confidence, inner strength, belief in self and unrelenting determination.

As I look at the cards I have been dealt:

•   Being a black woman in America
•   A child of domestic violence
•   A person affected by mental illness

I share with you the wisdom that this poem has whispered to me from when I first read it in elementary school and through the years as a black woman and an entrepreneur.  

Regardless of what people say, bricks they throw or “situations” that occur you can rise above it.

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.

Know your value, know your worth....

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.

Remain HOPEFUL and BELIEVE in yourself

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

"And Still I Rise"

Not everyone is in your corner 

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

I am clear on Who and WHOSE I am. I will not disguise who I really am.

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 backyard.

Develop resilience and have the wisdom to know what to overlook.

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.

Own who you are, be proud of your body, embrace your womaness and all its glory.

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?

Proceed and be bold

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.

All the lessons are in the past. All the opportunities are in the future.

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.

Just like Maya, I’ve become a PRO when it comes to facing situations head on and rising above, and you can too. So, if you have been dealt a hand in your lifetime that feels insurmountable, just know that you can grow through anything. Repeat after me, I Rise, I Rise, I Rise.   

Important: share your thought and ideas directly in the comments. Links to other posts, videos, etc. will be deleted as they come across suspect.

Strength, Courage & Wisdom,