Maya Angelou' poem 'Still I rise'

 Maya Angelou' poem 'Still I rise'

I request readers to read the poem in the above link and my review next. Thanks.

Maya Angelou lived from 1928 to 2014. We can certainly guess what sort of racial insults and denials and hurts she would have undergone. But all these didn’t deter her and she was well aware of her rights and potential. When a colored woman suffers insults, it is twin fold. On one hand the white discriminate and the patriarchy in her home and community add insult to injury. Still Maya is not bogged down by these. Please see the confidence and clarity in the ending lines:

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.

Her message was not only for the black or women, actually anyone who finds himself/herself facing unjust denials or insults or exploitation can certainly draw a lot of inspiration from these lines. Injustice when left unquestioned gets worse multi fold and more and more people deviate from human values for gains because there is no resistance. Poets have given direction and ignited minds during struggles for freedom in the history of mankind. This poem is certainly a model.