'Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (1928-2014), the queen of feminist poetry, acclaimed Afro-American poet, storyteller, artist and civil rights activist, remains a powerful voice of liberation, of revolution and undying hope for the world at large. Here’s sharing one of her most iconic poems, just to remind us that ultimately light and truth and freedom and goodness will win, provided we keep going and keep fighting.  

Still I Rise 

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. 

Does my sassiness upset you? 

Why are you beset with gloom? 

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells 

Pumping in my living room. 

Just like moons and like suns, 

With the certainty of tides, 

Just like hopes springing high, 

Still I'll rise. 

Did you want to see me broken? 

Bowed head and lowered eyes? 

Shoulders falling down like teardrops, 

Weakened by my soulful cries? 

Does my haughtiness offend you? 

Don't you take it awful hard 

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines 

Diggin’ in my own backyard. 

You may shoot me with your words, 

You may cut me with your eyes, 

You may kill me with your hatefulness, 

But still, like air, I’ll rise. 

Does my sexiness upset you? 

Does it come as a surprise 

That I dance like I've got diamonds 

At the meeting of my thighs? 

Out of the huts of history’s shame 

I rise 

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain 

I rise 

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, 

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. 

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. Maya Angelou