On Diversity " It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength . We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry , and we must understand that all the threads of that tapestry are equal in value no matter their color ." -Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Words That Spoke To All Our Lives Orlando , Florida June 2014
On the Liberating Power of Love " I am grateful to have been loved and to be loved now and to be able to love , because that liberates . Love liberates . It doesn ' t just hold-that ' s ego . Love liberates . It doesn ' t bind . Love says , ' I love you . I love you if you ' re in China . I love you if you ' re across town . I love you if you ' re in Harlem . I love you . I would like to be near you . I ' d like to have your arms around me . I ' d like to hear your voice in my ear . But that ' s not possible now , so I love you . Go .' " -Maya Angelou
On the Intesity of Racism " The plague of racism is insidious , entering into our minds as smoothly and quietly and invisibly as floating airborne microbes enter into our bodies to find lifelong purchase in our bloodstreams ."
-Maya Angelou
On Becoming Who You Were Meant to Be " What I think it really means is : I ' m a teacher . I am a teacher . I teach all the time , as you do and as all of you do-whether we know it or not , whether we take responsibility for it or not . I hold nothing back because I want to see that light go off. I like to see the children say , ' I never thought of that before .' And I think , ' I ' ve got them !' " -Maya Angelou
On Black Survival in America " The needs of a society determine its ethics , and in the black American ghettos the hero is that man who is offered only the crumbs from his country ' s table but by ingenuity and courage is able to take for himself a Lucullan feast . Hence the janitor who lives in one room but sports a robin ' s-egg-blue Cadillac is not laughed at but admired , and the domestic who buys $ 40 shoes is not criticized but is appreciated . We know that they have put to use their full mental and physical powers . Each single gain feeds into the gains of the body collective ." --Maya Angelou
On Perseverance " We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated .'' -Maya Angelou
On Healing Society ' s Scars " The love of the family , the love of one person , can heal . It heals the scars left by society . A massive , powerful society ." -Maya Angelou