America lost one of its ambassadors for social justice Wednesday with the death of Maya Angelou, someone the Lima region was fortunate enough to see up close on three occasions.

Angelou, 86, was a warrior for peace, equality and tolerance who walked the streets of the common person and rubbed elbows with world leaders.

Lima saw the poet and author at her best in 1997 when she spoke at its community-wide Diversity Day celebration. “People are more alike than they are different,” she reminded the large crowd at Veterans Memorial Civic Center that day. “All people want safe streets. Everybody wants to find somebody to love and to have the unmitigated gall to accept love in return.”

Life threw its best punches at Angelou, but never knocked her down….

She would eventually tell her story through one of the most widely read memoirs of the past few decades, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

That opened doors for her, and she never let them close….

Angelou grew as the world grew. The tools of her message started with poetry and books, then went on to television and later to Twitter, Facebook and a weekly SiriusXM satellite radio show.

“I’ve seen many things, I’ve learned many things,” Angelou told The Associated Press in 2013. “I’ve certainly been exposed to many things and I’ve learned something: I owe it to you to tell you.”

That she did. And today, we are richer because of it.

 

The Lima News