Maya Angelou on Hillary Clinton
Here's Maya Angelou, with musical accompaniment, explaining why she thinks Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is a boon to all women.
best line: "I’m proud that she gives herself the authority to be in her own skin. To be who she is."
It seems like the Clinton campaign is lining up the poetvote.
Obama Vs. McCain Polling Data
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 49.4
- 42.8
- Obama +6.6
Favorable Ratings
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 56.4
- 36.3
- +20.1
- McCain
- 50.1
- 41.3
- +8.8
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Maya Angelou,
A-wo/man! The Caged bird comes in many colors and the color is not the import of the inner struggle. The inner struggle is the cage.
When I was in college, over a decade ago, I dreamt that I was Martin Luther King, Jr. In that dream, I was did not die. I lived to become a Game Show Host for the Dating Game. My Ilocano ancestors (Indigenous of the Philippines) believe (like most indigenous peoples) that we earn our right to die. In that dream, I awoke and immediately knew that Martin Luther King, Jr. had to die. His soul sent him as a messenger to break us all out of a nightmarish dream. He was not dreaming about being a "Black Man." He was dreaming about Ending -ISM.
Thank you for your courage, honesty and truth.
Maya Angelou has revealed herself as a traitor to the cause! While Barak Obama promises to bring real change and the chance for African Americans to ascend to the highest office in the land, Angelou has sold herself to the typical political tools of the Clinton campaign, she has proven herself to be a black bourgiouse, who caters to the oppressing class in the name of endorsing a woman president, a woman who comes from the same class that will not let black women ascend. MAYA ANGELOU: HISTORY WILL RECORD WE WERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF CHANGE, WHILE YOU WERE NOT.
Her message is: Be true to yourself. You have the right to vote for the candidate you like.
Her message is: Be true to yourself. You have the right to vote for the candidate you like.
malcolm you're a jackass! i am not even going to play the black white thing with you but let's just remember women too are a minority you idiot!
I am in agreement with Malcolm. Maya Angelou just wants to get invited to the White House again by the Clintons. Maya Angelou is 79 years old. This is her only way to stay in the news. Have you seen the latest ad by Clinton camp. It shows 'Magic Johnson playing as a rookie which is suppose to depict Obama as a rookie candidate.
I am an American Indian and Hillary is just a power grabbing woman. She speaks with a 'forked tongue'. Women in this country are not minorities, particularly if they sleep and receive their upkeep from the oppressor.
Hillary is going to get slaughtered by the 'GW' machinery thats behind McCain. Bush has twenty times more political tricks up his sleeve than the Clintons will ever have in a lifetime.
Women votes are not enough for Hillary to win because she needs Independents to carry an election. Plus, Cynthia McKinney is running on the Green Party ticket. If Hillary gets the nomination, I'm either voting for McCain as a protest vote, or McKinney as a symbolic vote. Also, Bush will make sure the MILITARY GETS THEIR ABSENTEE BALLOTS OUT. THE MACHO MILITARY IS NOT VOTING FOR NOR SALUTING A WOMAN AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
HILLARY NEEDS TO STOP BEING AN ELITIST,POMPOUS, CLOSET RACIST WHO IS IN AN IVY-LEAGUE TOWER.
I defer to the wisdom of this woman who has instructed and educated my ignorant mind and fearful soul for over 30 years, with great patience and tolerance. Dr. Angelou deserves the utmost respect. She is a national treasure, and an asset to the world. If she says Hillary, Hillary it is.
Jan. 20, 2008, The Observer, Maya's poem for Hillary:
State Package for Hillary Clinton
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
This is not the first time you have seen Hillary Clinton seemingly at her wits' end, but she has always risen, always risen, don't forget she has always risen, much to the dismay of her adversaries and the delight of her friends.
Hillary Clinton will not give up on you and all she asks of you is that you do not give up on her.
There is a world of difference between being a woman and being an old female. If you're born a girl, grow up, and live long enough, you can become an old female. But to become a woman is a serious matter. A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies. Hillary Clinton is a woman. She has been there and done that and has still risen. She is in this race for the long haul. She intends to make a difference in our country. Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to be what it can become.
She declares she wants to see more smiles in the family, more courtesies between men and women, more honesty in the marketplace. She is the prayer of every woman and man who longs for fair play, healthy families, good schools, and a balanced economy.
She means to rise.
Don't give up on Hillary. In fact, if you help her to rise, you will rise with her and help her make this country the wonderful, wonderful place where every man and every woman can live freely without sanctimonious piety and without crippling fear.
Rise, Hillary.
Rise.
Nice post! Maybe when the previous poster is done goosestepping he might read it.
Being an Native American I hope you have gone to Senator Clinton's website. She has dedicated a whole page to dedicated to highlighting the issues in the Native American community and how she will tackle them. I wonder how many other candidates have done that??
http://hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=4076
Malcom please review the history of Maya Angelou and understand how she is admired for her endless dedication and contributions to the nation and the upliftment of African Americans, before making crude uninformed comments. This election is about the candidate each person believes can help America gain the respect of other nations as well as correct the horrible mistakes of President Bush. No one is a traitor, especially Ms. Angelou. Candidates make promises all the time, but they soon see when they begin the job its not as easy as they thought it would be to keep the promises. Unfortunately, that's how things are. I respect Sen. Obama passion and "green" vigor, but just because he's black does not mean "the change will come". I can only assume he will find out (if elected), that his hands will be tied tighter and the job will be harder for him than other presidents to bring that "change" hes referring to.
Do your homework. If Obama was so pro black why did he NOT support the two black candidates that ran against Mayor daily here in Chicago, ILLInois?
If you think the color of someone's skin is the sole reason to support them, then tell me what the $%^ is up with AFrica (Kenyans killing each other over the elections)? Maya Angelou has a right to support whomever she wants just as you do. Barack is mixed race and only trumpets being "AFrican American's" bc brainwashed folks like you will vote for him.
I live in Chicago and I can't see anything that Obama has done. Furthermore, here in CHicago we have the most powerful influential black leaders (Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson, Sr., Jr, Oprah and now even Sharpton has an office here) and the black masses still have a long way to go. The Messiah syndrome didn't work in the King era and it won't work now!
Barack grew up in Hawaii, do you think he could relate to my parent's picking cotton living in Jim Crow Mississippi?? Heck no. Barack owes a lot of people and he will have to pay.
You also need to study his dirty REzko connection. AS a black woman I find black men are often just as sexist as anyone else. Show some respect for the poet laureate and quit hating that she's using her brain and her heart, unlike you.
Finally, if you want to judge a president by his/her skin color than the rest of the world should treat you the same and grant or deny your privileges based on your color. Double standards don't work. MLK's dream was a world where a persons character - not skin color determined their abilities....you need to find that dream bc you sound like a militant black racist that will most likely sink barack's campaign!
If I'm supposed to vote for Barack bc I'm black and everyone else uses the same criteria, what do you think will happen?
Here are statistics from the US Census Bureau:
Population of United States by Race and Hispanic Origin: 2000 and 2004 taken from the US Census Bureau
White: 81.1%
Black or African American: 12.7%
American Indian or Alaskan Native: .9%
Asian: 3.8%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: .2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race): 12.5%
If I want to live in a black country...I'm moving to Africa!
Jackie, You seem to not know a lot about global politics. People around the world would and will take to Obama faster than any other President, being a man of color. A lot of the other Arab countries will not deal with her. It's sad but a lot of countries are back in the stone age. They simply do not deal with women; that is a major problem. Globally is not the United States.
This comment reminds me of something that has been on my mind for a while. While what is happening between a white woman and a black man running for the democratic presidential ticket is not the same, it is reminiscent of the time during the 60's when black women were being thrust into a decision that was impossible to make. If a black woman chooses to side with women's liberation is it an affront to black men's liberation. So, by voting or getting behind the women during that time they would be betraying black men and their sufferage? Come on, can we please allow black women to be who they are and have their own distinct voice? I encourage all women of any race to vote with their intuition!
And the hits just keep on coming... The point is that Maya Angelou is one of the last vestiges of articulate beautiful thought. One of our only voices of poetry in this country that is read throughout the world. I am not a reader of the Observer and received this via email. When I linked in I saw the comment string I had to comment... We have to speak our thoughts and minds in this race for the presidency. We cannot submit to the small snippets from the media as our level of information. Maya has stated an opinion and just as the myriad of other celebs that get press by their opinions it is simply just that. She of course has a more eloquent way of stating it than all of the others. It is difficult to be a minority in this or any other country. But as I review the other posts I am mindful that I cannot commit to just being black or being a woman. The point is… I am allowed to celebrate both and make my decision based upon my own convictions and NEVER does that make me wrong. That makes me an AMERICAN.
Not since the OJ case have I seen so many vicious comments made about candidates. The one from Malcolm about Maya Angelou is just absurd. You have the nerve to be for a half black/half white candidate but yet you kick your wholely black sister down into the dirt because she disagrees with you on the candidate of her choice. Last I knew this was a free country to pick who one thinks is the best person.
I myself am for Hillary. Not against Obama. I love my brother too. I think Hillary has the knowledge and understanding of issues that he is just getting on board with. Also, Obama is not for reparations for Black people. I'm not talking about monies either. I do think White America owes Black people a great deal from how we were treated. How about sending our children to college for free. They do it for Native Americans and they didn't get treated half as bad as we did, even though what happened to them wasn't right either. Native Americans still have a culture, still have a language, still have an identity. We don't.
I feel Obama is lacking in identifying with my heritage. I came from slaves who picked cotton. My grandmother who was black and native indian was raped, had her hair cut off on one side of her head to shame her and was abused. Obama's father is from Kenya. His black side cannot truly identify with slavery in America.
I'm proud of what women have accomplished in this world. A woman has the ability to see the intricate details, is compassionate and understanding ... a level only some men can obtain. We need a leader who doesn't only talk a good show but one that can deliver on day one.
What's going to happen if on day one Obama is faced with another 911 situation? Is he going to be ready? I think not. He'll be just like Bush was ... a deer caught in headlights unable to move.
It's not Obama's time. It's Hillary's time. Obama's young and he can certainly catch the train the next time around in eight years.
All of you in Texas and Ohio please vote responsibly and don't just go with the crowd. Vote Hillary and make your ancestors and country proud. Women are your mothers, nurturers, wives, multi-taskers. We have shown we can do it all. Now let's give Hillary all the support she needs.
Amen.
I have been waiting for someone to say what the previous poster just wrote. It seems that people who claim they want change and to heal this nation are doing the same old things people have always done in elections. Why must we uplift one candidate and vilify another. Barak Obama is an impressive person, and his message of hope and change is wonderful, however, I think a lot of the people supporting him aren't really for change. They are playing gender politics -- and there's nothing new about that. The reality is that in terms of policies Obama and Clinton are almost identical, but Senator Clinton does have the advantage of experience. I wouldn't want a surgery performed by a doctor who has never done one -- or seen it performed. Why should it be any different with a politician. This country has always suffered from 'isms', racism, sexism, age-ism. For once lets throw all that out, supporting one candidate just because he's black is just as bad as not supporting another because she's a woman. And I should know because I've been on both sides as a black woman.
I would love for Malcom to respond to some of these retorts; wonder where he is now.
Dr. Angelou is, above all things, a voice. Since her first writings, she has been a voice for people of color, women of color, single mothers, the oppressed in general, academia, and the list goes on. How absurd is it to criticize her for being for herself today what she has always been? Unlike most people, she recognizes the power of her voice, and she has the right to uplift it in the name of whatever she chooses. Her work for the oppressed across the world will not go forgotten by me because she is not endorsing the candidate for whom I plan to vote. Her experiences have led her to Clinton just as mine have led me to Obama. Thanks to the many Angelou pieces I have read and reread, I do feel as though I know her to a certain extent, at least through her experiences. I strongly doubt Malcolm took the time to do the same before blasting her on the web. His ignorance is sad, and if I were not comfortable in my own skin - like Dr. Angelou or like Clinton - I might reconsider who I was aligning myself with concerning my own vote. But, since I am, Obama is still my choice.
In the mean time, Malcolm, no one will know that you are stupid until you open your mouth and remove all doubt. I cannot expect you to see the plight of women given that you are a man. Consider how women in almost EVERY culture are subjugated by men and then ask us which is more important: that which makes us women of color or that which makes us women? Shirley Chisholm once said, "Of my two 'handicaps,' being female put more obstacles in my path than being black." Racism is still everpresent, and thanks to Malcolm, I see that sexism is alive and well also.
Most of us would all do better to read more and talk less about that which we do not know.
Those of you who are attacking Maya Angelou have clearly either not read or not understood her writings. If you were familiar with her poetry and autobiographies you would know her and love her as a woman of great courage, intelligence, and integrity who would never ever sell out anyone. Can't you even respectfully disagree? She's smarter than you are, so she certainly knows that many Obama supporters would resent her support of Clinton and view it as a "race" betrayal. That she stepped out boldly and provided it anyone, despite the risk to other important friendships and relationships, speaks volumes concerning that incredible person she is.
You are mean and cruel.You have lost your spirit and it wanders in a darken place that you have created.You and Malcolm are the racists.Read again your words and you will see this is true.I pray each day that God will end this terrible world with it's hatred and it be reborn.All of this ignorance,because Maya expressed her God given right of free will.If it was granted by God who are you to take it away?You would rather vote for McCain who may continue to take us down the road that you say you hate just to make a point.Then you are no better than Bush,for you'd rather let your fellow humans suffer in darkness for your own sake.Who then is pompous?