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 ...