Letter to Maya Angelou

Gerardo J. Colon                                                                                                                 May 20, 2015
English 3222

Introduction to Literature II

Dr. Carmen González-Alfano

Letter to Maya Angelou

May 20, 2015

Dear Maya Angelou:

I hope you had the opportunity to read this letter.  I know that recently your spirit was raised and you left this world to start a new life, were your spirit and body has raised to the eternity, were the sorrows and pains will no longer hurt your body and soul.

After reading poem Still I Rise I felt my spirit was lifted by the strength and the will of the author.  The poem reflects the strength of your spirit to overcome difficulties.  And your message of Still I Rise could be interpreted in two ways:  even when things go wrong you overcome difficulties, you rise; the other is telling that adversities will hurt you until get over them, when you rise. 

I imagine that as an African American woman artist, dancer, civil rights activist, you encountered a lot of prejudice and hater.  Life for black women was never easy, but for those that wanted to be an artist had a greater level of difficulty.  To be able to stand strong, and write a poem with such a message you had to be a self-confident woman. This type of strength does not come from education, it comes from a life full of difficult situations that made your character rise above the life bad moments.

This poem is a great lesson for me. Thank you for being an inspiration, and the author of such a great poem.

Best Regards,

Gerardo J. Colon