Maya Angelou gave us so many inspirations in her writing, acting, singing, teaching, and her way of living. From an Oprah Master Class, here are short videos of Maya Angelou telling us her inspiring wisdoms.
See them in the Oprah.com website:
Be a Rainbow in Someone Else’s Cloud
Or see the videos (with shorter commercials) at You Tube:
Dr. Maya Angelou: Oprah’s Master Class
This is a poem from my book, Being of Water. The italicized words are from my teachers, Richard Bugbee and Jane Thing Dumas. They are talking about the ways of learning to be respectful of all.
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(richard:)
you didn’t ask questions
you were with others & watched & picked things up
something took, your skill
the one you watched eventually saying, here, & begins
to show you how
as a kid looking through the willow branches
the bear dancers’
secret
was what you might come to know
my father was in construction in the 50s
so that’s what i did
now i call it destruction
now i work with plants
make willow and tule huts
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(jane:)
i worry about the people, especially when
someone says they have diabetes
we don’t say “my diabetes”
it’s like a stray dog coming to your door
it’s not yours
i say, “i’m going to take my survival pill”
the ones who knew how and when
to set the fires
and the ceremonialists
no one knows how now
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what was hidden from you as a kid
looking
through the willow boughs
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my mother helping my husband who came back
from the war with malaria
the doctors said he’d need pills
the rest of his life
we’ve lost a lot but not everything
she wouldn’t tell me
about her healing
she’d say go get
that plant
she’d say come in
even when we only had tortillas
in the house
she’d help you heal
we would have to go to school
my uncle thought it was important
to have an education
because we would need it
we didn’t know in the 20s
how the land’s face
would change
i’d have to work on ranches
if i hadn’t gone to school
ranch to ranch
became an assembly worker at honeywell
then asked to
be a community health worker
so i did
and waitress
i’d hug an adult who was sick
and saw them feel better
it helped the medicine take effect
certain parts of our body go to sleep
if we don’t give them attention
another uncle told us to be respectful
it was 1933 and we were fooling around
we didn’t know what he meant
when he said we would need it
and then in a few years the next world war came
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why are rattlesnakes woven into the baskets?
to keep out the rodents
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Copyright (c) Julia Doughty
Three sisters share their thoughts about the earth, Turtle Island, and how to protect it from an Evil Spirit.
Click here to view the animated film. 2:53 minutes.
Or copy and paste: http://injunuity.org/#!/show/2
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