Today is the Homegoing for Dr. Maya Angelou.
To a life well lived.
To what she gave the WORLD.
Thank you, Dr. Angelou.
Though I never met Dr. Angelou, she spoke to me through her words. She spoke to me when I heard her voice – which was made for poetry, if you understand. When I listened to Dr. Angelou, I heard the female Elders all around me, not just in my family, but in church, and the beauty shop, and everywhere in between.
http://new.livestream.com/wfu/angelou/embed
Wait Chapel is shown at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday, June 6, 2014. Former President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are joining First Lady Michelle Obama at a weekend memorial service for poet and author Maya Angelou at Wait Chapel. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
UPDATE: First lady Michelle Obama
Cicely Tyson speaks
Oprah Winfrey Speaks
Guy Johnson speaks
Reblogged this on Home Sweet Home WY and commented:
Maya Angelou
https://img0.etsystatic.com/000/1/6308872/il_570xN.238787010.jpg
When Great Trees Fall
by Maya Angelou
May 28, 2014
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.
― Maya Angelou
So beautiful.
I thank you Maya Angelou
For the beauty of your heart,
For the uplift of your words,
For the love of your inspiring voice,
For teaching us joyful liberation.
Article excerpt from:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/05/28/maya_angelou_died_poet_and_memoirist_was_86_read_her_stanza_about_when_great.html
The stanza below comes from “When Great Trees Fall,” the last poem in Angelou’s fifth volume of poetry, I Shall Not Be Moved.
It captures her grace and gentleness, as well as that calm stretching action she urges upon us: Fill the spaces and move beyond them. Be and be better. Angelou has filled the spaces and passed through one more limit.
We’re all the better for it.
I am so thankful for Maya Angelou….she lifted her voice to sing and inspire! She truly caused earth and Heaven to ring in uplifting harmonies. Her words were words of faith, hope and wisdom.
In my humble opinion, I really think that Maya Angelou LIVED the song:
Her voice was a voice of LIBERATION!
http://youtu.be/c9QJDk3L0eo
Oprah:
“She was always there for me to be the rainbow. And I’m here today to say thank you and to acknowledge to you all and to the world how powerful one life can be.”
THANKS YAHTC!
Cicely Tyson remembers Maya Angelou and shares personal stories of their friendship. (Photo: WFMY)
Family, friends, dignitaries gather for Maya Angelou’s funeral at Wait Chapel, Wake Forest University. (Photo: WFMY)
Great photo….love the poster photos of Maya Angelou that are on the wall of the stage!
You are really bringing great postings!
YVW. Thanks you for celebrating Dr. Angelou’s Homegoing with us!
Thank you so much for providing this memorial, home-going page and for community :)
Respect: Good Morning America host Robin Roberts arrives for the Saturday morning service
Just bought her book “Everybody’s Got Something>”
Looking forward to reading it too.
Celebration: Guests arrive at Wake Forest University, where Angelou taught for 30 years, for her memorial
First Lady Michelle Obama at the Memorial Service for Dr Maya Angelou
Thank you so much. (Applause.) My heart is so full. My heart is so full. Bebe — Oprah, why did you do that? Just why did you put me after this? (Laughter.)
To the family, Guy, to all of you; to the friends; President Clinton; Oprah; my mother, Cicely Tyson; Ambassador Young — let me just share something with you. My mother, Marian Robinson, never cares about anything I do. (Laughter.) But when Dr. Maya Angelou passed, she said, you’re going, aren’t you? I said, well, Mom, I’m not really sure, I have to check with my schedule. She said, you are going, right? (Laughter.) I said, well, I’m going to get back to you but I have to check with the people, figure it out. I came back up to her room when I found out that I was scheduled to go, and she said, that’s good, now I’m happy. (Laughter.)
It is such a profound honor, truly, a profound honor, to be here today on behalf of myself and my husband as we celebrate one of the greatest spirits our world has ever known, our dear friend, Dr. Maya Angelou.
In the Book of Psalms it reads: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the Earth.” What a perfect description of Maya Angelou, and the gift she gave to her family and to all who loved her.
She taught us that we are each wonderfully made, intricately woven, and put on this Earth for a purpose far greater than we could ever imagine. And when I think about Maya Angelou, I think about the affirming power of her words.
The first time I read “Phenomenal Woman”, I was struck by how she celebrated black women’s beauty like no one had ever dared to before. (Applause.) Our curves, our stride, our strength, our grace. Her words were clever and sassy; they were powerful and sexual and boastful. And in that one singular poem, Maya Angelou spoke to the essence of black women, but she also graced us with an anthem for all women –- a call for all of us to embrace our God-given beauty.
And, oh, how desperately black girls needed that message. As a young woman, I needed that message. As a child, my first doll was Malibu Barbie. (Laughter.) That was the standard for perfection. That was what the world told me to aspire to. But then I discovered Maya Angelou, and her words lifted me right out of my own little head.
Her message was very simple. She told us that our worth has nothing to do with what the world might say. Instead, she said, “Each of us comes from the creator trailing wisps of glory.” She reminded us that we must each find our own voice, decide our own value, and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birthright as members of the human race.
Dr. Angelou’s words sustained me on every step of my journey –- through lonely moments in ivy-covered classrooms and colorless skyscrapers; through blissful moments mothering two splendid baby girls; through long years on the campaign trail where, at times, my very womanhood was dissected and questioned. For me, that was the power of Maya Angelou’s words –- words so powerful that they carried a little black girl from the South Side of Chicago all the way to the White House. (Applause.)
And today, as First Lady, whenever the term “authentic” is used to describe me, I take it as a tremendous compliment, because I know that I am following in the footsteps of great women like Maya Angelou. But really, I’m just a beginner — I am baby-authentic. (Laughter.) Maya Angelou, now she was the original, she was the master. For at a time when there were such stifling constraints on how black women could exist in the world, she serenely disregarded all the rules with fiercely passionate, unapologetic self. She was comfortable in every last inch of her glorious brown skin.
But for Dr. Angelou, her own transition was never enough. You see, she didn’t just want to be phenomenal herself, she wanted all of us to be phenomenal right alongside her. (Applause.) So that’s what she did throughout her lifetime -– she gathered so many of us under her wing. I wish I was a daughter, but I was right under that wing sharing her wisdom, her genius, and her boundless love.
I first came into her presence in 2008, when she spoke at a campaign rally here in North Carolina. At that point, she was in a wheelchair, hooked up to an oxygen tank to help her breathe. But let me tell you, she rolled up like she owned the place. (Laughter.) She took the stage, as she always did, like she’d been born there. And I was so completely awed and overwhelmed by her presence I could barely concentrate on what she was saying to me.
But while I don’t remember her exact words, I do remember exactly how she made me feel. (Applause.) She made me feel like I owned the place, too. She made me feel like I had been born on that stage right next to her. And I remember thinking to myself, “Maya Angelou knows who I am, and she’s rooting for me. So, now I’m good. I can do this. I can do this.” (Applause.)
And that’s really true for us all, because in so many ways, Maya Angelou knew us. She knew our hope, our pain, our ambition, our fear, our anger, our shame. And she assured us that despite it all –- in fact, because of it all -– we were good. And in doing so, she paved the way for me and Oprah and so many others just to be our good, old, black-woman selves. (Applause.)
She showed us that eventually, if we stayed true to who we are, then the world would embrace us. (Applause.) And she did this not just for black women, but for all women, for all human beings. She taught us all that it is okay to be your regular old self, whatever that is –- your poor self, your broken self, your brilliant, bold, phenomenal self.
That was Maya Angelou’s reach. She touched me. She touched all of you. She touched people all across the globe, including a young white woman from Kansas who named her daughter after Maya, and raised her son to be the first black President of the United States. (Applause.)
So when I heard that Dr. Angelou had passed, while I felt a deep sense of loss, I also felt a profound sense of peace. Because there is no question that Maya Angelou will always be with us, because there was something truly divine about Maya. I know that now, as always, she is right where she belongs.
May her memory be a blessing to us all. Thank you. God bless. (Applause.)
****
Thank you, rikyrah, for posting the transcript of Oprah Winfrey’s “Reflection.”
She was profoundly correct when she spoke of the “affirming power” of Maya Angelou’s words and that “there was something truly divine about Maya”
Reflection from Dr. Edwin Wilson/Wake Forest University WFMY
Musical Tribute from Alyson Williams “God Put A Rainbow In The Clouds” WFMY
This was so powerful!
I’m waiting for full video of this service. It was so RICH not to have it all TOGETHER.
I so agree with you, Ametia!
I think this uplifting service will stay with me for a long time! You should have seen me and my heart flying through our field as I was tractoring it! :)
Just came back from the mowing :)
“Stand still and know who you are.” Oprah Winfrey quotes Maya Angelou. WFMY
There is no mourning here. We have added to the population of angels. – Guy Bailey Johnson, Maya Angelou’s son. WFMY
Ambassador Andrew Young reading scripture, John 14:1-6, 27 WFMY
Musical Tribute from Lee Ann Womack “I Hope You Dance”
VIDEO: http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/lee-ann-womack-sings-i-hope-you-dance-at-maya/vCdFS5/
Call to Worship, Dr. Serenus T Churn, Sr. WFMY
Mr. Elliott Matthew Jones / Grandson WFMY
Maya Angelou, standing with her bright-star spirit awash in bright gleaming light, touched countless hearts and continues to live on in hearts here and around the world.
She lived the song.
https://twitter.com/NubianMessage/status/475330485355544576/photo/1
Oprah’s Legends Ball
http://youtu.be/a_BJ0LXvLNk
https://twitter.com/FlyyGirlOnline/status/475336022025175040/photo/1
Oprah:
“I cannot fill her shoes, but I can walk in her footsteps.”
Oprah:
“She taught me the poetry of courage and respect.”
FLOTUS: “She celebrated black women’s beauty like no one had ever dared to before. Our curves, our stride, our strength, our grace,” Obama told those seated in the wooden pews. “Her words were clever and sassy. They were powerful and sexual and boastful.”
These words should really get rightwing heads exploding! LMBAO
Well, that will give their heads something to do this weekend….hehe :)
Searching for video of Dr. Serenus Churn’s tribute to Dr. Angelou.
Just looked….can’t find it yet.
I’m still searching for the video of Dr. Churn. If you happen upon it… THANKS!
Sheryl Kaye @_sherylkaye_
Follow
“@MichelleObama: “A white woman who named her daughter Maya and raised her son to be the first black POTUS”. #MayaAngelouFuneral
10:56 AM – 7 Jun 2014
https://twitter.com/BillieJeanFox46/status/475313761293594624/photo/1
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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FLOTUS on #MayaAngelou inspiring ppl: white woman from Kansas who…raised her son to become the first Black President of the United States
10:58 AM – 7 Jun 2014
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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FLOTUS: “She paved the way for so many women like me and Oprah, taught us how to be our good old Black woman selves.” #MayaAngelouMemorial
10:55 AM – 7 Jun 2014
Dr. Maya Angelou’s home church celebrates her life
(pictured above: Maya Angelou’s grandson, Colin Johnson, speaks. Sitting behind him are (from left) Sheila Alick, Mayor Pro Temp Vivian Burke, Mayor Allen Joines, Rev. Paul Lowe, Dr. Serenus Churn and Dr. Lillie Travis.)
Dr. Serenus Churn takes to the pulpit to praise the late Dr. Maya Angelou. – See more at: http://wschronicle.com/2014/06/saying-goodbye/#sthash.jEg3jLBr.dpuf
The Mount Zion Praise Dancers perform.
Great post!
zizi2 @zizii2
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Good Lord!! @FLOTUS came to #MayaAngelou Tribute with verbal guns blazing. Cut down all wingnut detractors like a runaway lawnmower!
11:01 AM – 7 Jun 2014
FLOTUS delivered a TOUR de FORCE tribute to Dr. Angelou and all women who dare to be themselves.
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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FLOTUS on Maya Angelou: “Her words were so powerful, they carried a little Black girl from the South Side of Chicago to the White House.”
10:50 AM – 7 Jun 2014
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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FLOTUS: “Her words carried me through a long year on the campaign trail where at times my very womanhood was questioned and dissected” #Maya
10:49 AM – 7 Jun 2014
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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FLOTUS: “Her call for all of us to embrace our God given talent. Oh, how Black girls needed that message. Oh, how I needed that message”
10:46 AM – 7 Jun 2014
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Follow
FLOTUS on her mom’s response to Dr. Angelous’s death: “You’re going aren’t you? Mom, I have to check my schedule. You’re going, aren’t you?!
10:46 AM – 7 Jun 2014
https://twitter.com/EPierre_Libra93/status/475305405246353408/photo/1
https://twitter.com/bustle/status/475304674795327488/photo/1
I want to thank you ladies.
I’m back and just put on my DVR. You all have done a marvelous job with the thread.
THANK YOU!
YVW, Rikyrah. I didn’t include Bill Clinton’s video in the top thread.
It’s in the comments.
PLEASE, Don’t judge me.
A little girl, dressed in her finest, waits with adults in line outside the Wait chapel prior to the memorial service in honor of Maya Angelou. Luminaries like Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Andrew Young and Oprah Winfrey attended the memorial service for Maya Angelou at Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University on Saturday June 7, 2014.
Thanks for the wonderful post and comments for Dr. Maya Angelou.
She was an amazing, gifted woman and had such a distinguished career.
May she rest in peace.
Hi Liza. You’re so welcome! It’s 3 Chics’ pleasure to post on Dr. Angelou’s Home Going.
Actress Lynn Whitfield arrives at the memorial service for Maya Angelou at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina June 7, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/NELL REDMOND
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, arrives at the memorial service for Maya Angelou at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina June 7, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/NELL REDMOND
“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.”
She LIVED IT and TAUGHT IT!
Yes!
Strong, elegant, gracious, beautiful spirit of Maya Angelou…..Shinning here and shinning on forever!
“shining”
Oh, the deep warmth in my heart.
My heart has been so touched this morning by all the words, songs, and hearts shared in this service “A Celebration of Rising ‘Joy’ ” for Maya Angelou.
May God Bless Maya Angelou throughout Eternity!
Thank you God, for sharing Maya Angelou with us!
Thank you, Maya Angelou!
“A Celebration of Rising Joy”
RIP Dr Maya Angelou
Thank you SO much for finding and posting these videos, Ametia!
Song now?
Love it!
Title?
“BEEN FOUND”
Oh, I want to cry! Thank you so very much for posting the song for me, Ametia.
I know that I’ll be listening to it more than once today!
It’s a beautiful song, and a loving way to end the Home Going service.
It truly is, Ametia! I love it!
Photo of Maya Angelou performing with Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford at New York’s Paramount Theater on Feb. 14, 1996:
http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/promo_650/public/media/maya-angelous-ashford-and-simpson-billboard-650.jpg
People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
So gracious, courageous, and full of LOVE.
Grandson about Maya “I am the hand on your back. I might let you trip, but will never let you fall.”
Mourners make their way into Wait Chapel before a memorial service for poet and author Maya Angelou at Wait Chapel. at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, June 7, 2014. Former President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are joining First Lady Michelle Obama at the service. (AP Photo/Chuck Burto
Michael Eric Dyson, second from left, and Susan L. Taylor, second from right, arrive outside Wait Chapel before a memorial service for poet and author Maya Angelou at Wait Chapel. at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, June 7, 2014. Former President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are joining First Lady Michelle Obama at the service. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Susan L. Taylor, right, assists friends outside Wait Chapel before a memorial service for poet and author Maya Angelou at Wait Chapel. at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, June 7, 2014. Former President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are joining First Lady Michelle Obama at the service. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Valerie Simpson. ” Maya Angelou liked to PARTY, did it well, and always looking for a place to celebrate.”
Valerie Simpson: “This WONDEROUS woman changed my life.”
Song
“Remember me as sunny day.”
“Remember me as a balloon at a carnival that ended too soon.”
“Remember me as a breath of Spring.”
“Remember me as a sound of laughter.”
“Remember me as a good friend.”
THIS NOVA IS MY MOTHER.
Oprah Winfrey speaks at a memorial for Maya Angelou on June 7, 2014.
“Oprah: She was my spiritual queen mother and in everything that word implies she was the ultimate teacher,” “She taught me the poetry of courage and respect.”
GUY: “There is no mourning here, there is no MOURNING. We have added to the population of ANGELS.”
Maya’s son Guy Johnson is speaking.
“We have added to the population of angels, and she has left us with something in our heart.”
“When you learn, teach”
“When you get, give.”
“Only the heart can change this stone of the world.”
BEST LESSON YET:
“When you learn, teach”
“When you get, give.”
Our First Lady said this about Maya Angelou:
“She taught us that we are each wonderfully made, intricately woven and put on this earth for a purpose.”
First Lady Michelle Obama said that Angelou reminded everyone that
” We must each find our own voice, decide our own value, and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birthright as members of the human race.”
May’s Pastor, TURNED IT OUT. LOL Loved it!
“May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!”
“Maya, Wait up for us, and we will see you in the morning.”
Wait up for us, and we will see you in the MORNING.
Beautiful, thank you to Maya Angelou’s pastor, for bringing us these words!
Maya had room for all faiths. She was a woman of faith. If you told her you were a Christian, she would say, “All ready? I’m still working on it.”
LOL LOVE THIS.
DITTO. FLOTUS broke it all the way down. She shared her first doll was a Malbu Barbie. Maya helped her through her years at Princeton, And gain her acceptance as a Black
Woman.
I’m loving the service. It’s very UPLIFTING. Maya would so want her service to be as uplifting as possible. This is who she was.
Oh, yes, she certainly would!
Her pastor:
“She was imbued with the knowledge that out of one blood, God created all the people of the world.”
…..
“She just loved to give!”
And Maya will go on giving.
Truth!
“She was a woman of faith!”
“She had room and respect for all religions.”
“If you said, ‘I am a Christian,’ she would say, ‘Already? I’m still working on it.’ “
“All ready”
THIS. “She had room and respect for all religions.”
SO THIS
Photo: Paul Morigi, AP for National Portrait Gallery)
Joy!
Beautiful.
Tears flow for the LOVE for and of Maya.
FLOTUS: “Maya is right where she belongs. May her memory be a BLESSING to us all.”
AMEN!
AMEN!
First Lady:
“She touched me, you, and people all across the world”
“No question that Maya will always be with us”
IN ALL WAYS.
Yes!
FLOTUS: She paved the way for us to be our good old black women selves. She taught not just black women but all women to be our regular selves.
FLOTUS: “Maya wanted all of us to be PHENOMENAL right along side her.”
Good morning, everyone!
Good Morning, SG2 :)
Good Morning, SG2. Did you hear the Winans singing. CHURCH UP IN HERE!
I missed it.
FLOTUS: “Maya’s words were so powerful they carried a little girl from the South side of Chicago all the way to the White House.”
First Lady:
“Maya talk us that “Our worth has nothing to do with what the world might say….we come with wisp of the spirit of the Lord….”
“taught us”
Maya: “Our worth has nothing to do with what the world might say.”
FLOTUS: “When I think about Maya Angelou, I think about the affirming power of her words.”
FLOTUS about attending the Homegoing: Mama Robinson, said, you’re going aren’t you?
OUR FIRST LADY, MICHELLE OBAMA!
Yes!!!
Our First Lady: ” We celebrate one of the GREATEST spirits the world has EVER known.”
Winans singing “After you’ve done all you can….Stand…stand through the rain…the pain…when torn…..and declare got to go on
God never let you down….God has the power to bring me over….God has a plan…..”
So powerful….so right for Maya Angelou’s service and going home!
so heart-opening.
Be Be Winans about Maya on humility and acting humble: there’s a difference Humble, “It’s like a G-String, if you shake it real hard, it’ll fall off.”
LOL
So good!
Oprah: “She would want you, me, us to live her legacy”
KEEP GOING FOR IT!
Oprah: “Maya Angelou is the greatest woman I’ve ever KNOWN.”
Praise God!!!
Oh, this is going to be so powerful: Oprah!!!
Maya to Oprah: “Look above their heads and know who you are.”
God Put a Rainbow in the Sky….and in the Clouds ….so powerful…..
Wow!
“Maya Angelou, You will always be a rainbow in our sky!”
Bring it, Oprah. Maya’s a RAINBOW in the SKY.
Former President Bill Clinton is speaking now.
Good Morning! Thanks for the link, am watching!
You can also watch it here too.
http://blackamericaweb.com/2014/06/05/live-stream-dr-maya-angelous-homegoing-service/
Added a photo in thread. We’ll post the full video when it’s available.
I’m watching it on OWN , without the static and stopping of live-streaming. Ms. Tyson is so gracious. She has presence.
I missed Ms. Tyson’s words…looking forward to the video later.
Hi Yahtc. Ms. Tyson’s delivery was EARTHY.
Hi Ametia….I am so looking forward to hearing her.
I’m sorry that I don’t know how to embed the livestream.
If you’re near a tv, it is being shown on OWN.
Thank you, Rikyrah I’m just getting up and got my up of java.