Women’s History Month has really started off with a lot of thunder with the continuing birth control battle and all the nonsense Rush Limbaugh is spewing. I want to uplift the spirits and celebrate womanhood. No better way than with words from The Phenomenal Woman, Dr. Maya Angelou: 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 back yard.
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, 1978
A Dose of R&R 
As soon as I saw the title in my email I already knew that the post was going to be like…fantastic is not a good enough word this poem is a rallying cry for intelligent strong women world wide…or should be. The backbone of every community since the rise of man from a single celled amoeba to the fairly intelligent community we represent in our present form. We would be nothing without our most aggravating counterparts LOL…Women. Great Post and thanks for choosing THAT particular one today! #salute
jdobypr
http://jdobypr.com
Thanks Jerry! A few weeks ago I knew I wanted to highlight this poem sometime during the month of March, but in light of what’s going on in the news it really seemed appropriate. And yes, the expression rings true: You can’t live with us, you can’t live without us! Have a great day.
I agree with Jerry, it’s very fitting for what’s going on. It would be amazing if Dr. Angelou read this before Congress, then start their debate on how all these men think they can decide on how to regulate our bodies. Should we stand outside the Capitol steps holding up our middle finger a-la “Jolie-ing” & “Tebowing” (it would make for an awesome Twitter trend political statement.
Come back east and start the charge Tracy! I’ll be there with ya.
Reblogged this on Bazaar Daily News.