Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Celebrating Dr. Maya Angelou | Episode #433

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Celebrating Dr. Maya Angelou | Episode #433 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, Doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, international
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: leadership expert and trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Your Life Count. I'm delighted that you joined me today.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Today's episode honors and pays tribute to doctor Maya Angelo.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Now most of us know doctor Angelo is an amazing
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: poet and writer. Well, she is both and so much more.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Before I delve into today's episode, I want to express
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: my gratitude to you and tell you a little bit
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: about what legacy is all about and why it's so
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: important to me and I hope for you as well.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: First my gratitudes, I also say that if you get
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: gratitude right, you know what, If you get gratitude right,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: you get the rest for free. So here we go.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I want to give a big thank you to those
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: of you who are listening in today. I also want
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: to give a great big shout out to all of
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: you listening all around the world. I'm delighted and so
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: grateful that you tuned in. I sure hope you're enjoying
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: a fabulous day today and that you're having a fantastic week,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: because you know what, in the grand song of the universe,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: life is very short. It's short and sweet and very precious.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: So I hope you're making a difference in your own life,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: because when you do, you also make a difference in
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: someone else's life. Now, a lot of us, a lot
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: of folks, really want to make their life count for something,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: but they don't know how to do it, or it
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: seems so big, they don't know where to begin. So
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: they ask me, doctor Gloria, how do you do that?
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: How do you make your life count? It's very simple,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: very simple. You make your life count day by day,
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  Speaker 1: step by step, moment by moment, every single day three
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  Speaker 1: sixty five, twenty four to seven. You make your life
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: count by being there for someone who needs the pleasing
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: friend fragrance of your presence, by the simple loving things
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: you do for someone, by being an uplifter and encourager,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: by taking a walk with someone you love, by making
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: dinner or selecting a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Maybe you
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: bake a batch of cookies for your neighbor's kids, or
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: you call your mom or visit her and then you
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: hold her hand in yours, even when she no longer
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: knows your name after a day of teaching, or when
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: he knows I've been facilitating a retreat maybe for several days,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: or I'm with a client that's particularly busy for me.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: My husband will run a warm bath for me, just
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: because that's right. Just because it's not my birthday or
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, he does it for me
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: just because you make a difference by being great for
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: who you are, being grateful for your family and friends,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: and by counting your blessings. And we can go beyond
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: simply counting our blessings. We can go beyond by being
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: a blessing. I remember a time when I was leading
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: a course for a group of executives, all kinds of
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: leaders in the public sector. So there were policemen, firefighters,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: agency directors, city council members, school board leaders, executive directors
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: and nonprofits and in philanthropic organizations, leaders in the military,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: and leaders who work with our youth. Now this was
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: their very last class in a two year executive leadership program.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: And my class, this very last class, was all about legacy. Now,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: I have a different take on legacy than most people
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: in Western culture. I mean you know the drill. Legacy
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: is what this show is all about, right, Legacy living.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: We create legacy every single moment, every single day. So
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: it's not about waiting until the very end of our
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: life or you know, waiting until we are about to
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: retire to think about our legacy. We actually create our
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: legacy every single day, every text, message, every Instagram Okay,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: all of those make a difference. So, like I said,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: legacy in this class for leaders, this particular class was
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: all about legacy. So you know what we did. I
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: had them share stories. That's right. I had them share
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: stories about someone or something near and dear to their hearts.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: My oh my, I just want to tell you they
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: shared deeply and passionately about why they were called to
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: be public servants, about why they were called to be
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: servant leaders. I mean, their stories were absolutely powerful. Now,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: this group of leaders had been together in the same
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: program and the same cohort for twenty one months now
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: that's nearly two years, and through the stories they shared,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: they were now learning stuff about one another that they
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: hadn't heard before twenty one months. Imagine that, And they
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: hadn't heard this stuff before, so they were hearing these
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: incredible stories about one another's lives. You know what, sometimes
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: we just need to hit the pause button. We just
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: need to hit pause. Sit across the table from someone,
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  Speaker 1: pour a cup of tea or a cup of coffee,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: and just listen, Just listen to their story. That's exactly
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: how we could make a difference in somebody else's life.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: That's another way to do it right. Murial Orkiser is
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: one of my favorite poets, and she reminds us that
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: the world is not made up of atoms. Oh no,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: it is not made up of atoms. It is made
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: up of stories. Don't you just love that the world
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: is not made up of atoms. It is made up
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: of stories. That's what legacy living, Make your Life Count
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: is all about. You can learn more about legacy living
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Make your Life Count by visiting my website that's the
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess website, or by visiting me on Facebook or LinkedIn.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: You can also find me on the TEDx site and
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: listen to one of my ted talks. Just type in
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: my name to find me there. And if you want
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: to receive my weekly inspirations again, go to my website
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: that's the Gloria Burgess website. Scroll down just a little
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: bit and look on the right right hand side and
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: simply put your email address in that little box in
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: the sidebar and click submit. It's that simple. And what
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: you're signing up for is a weekly inspirational quote along
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: with a beautiful image so you can get yourself off
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: to a fabulous, inspiring day and week. Again, go to
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: my website, scroll down just a little bit, look on
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the right hand side, and simply put your email address
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: in that little box and click submit. It's that easy.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: My website again is Gloriaburgess dot com. Right, okay, very easy.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: All right, So today's episode honors doctor Maya Angelo, and
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: again most of us know her as an amazing poet
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and writer, but did you also know that she was
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: an actress, a director, a filmmaker, a humanitarian, and so
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: much more. As many of you know, during the month
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: of February in the United States we celebrate Black History Month.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Well you know me, I celebrate the lives of all people,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: no matter who they are, and I like to celebrate
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: the lives of all people, and especially the soulful lives
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: of African Americans. Black lives every single day, not just
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: during February. But every single day three sixty five, twenty
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  Speaker 1: four to seven. So who is Maya Angelo? Well, as
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: I mentioned a few moments ago, professionally, she was a poet,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: a writer, and actor, director, filmmaker, humanitarian, and she was
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: also an amazing human being. I had the privilege and
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: honor of meeting doctor Angelo a number of years ago
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: when she was in the Seattle area. I met her
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: through a mutual friend, doctor Maxine Memes, amazing African American elder. Now,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: when I first met Miss Maya in person, I was
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: fascinated by her, her manner, by her presence. Now, She's
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: worn many many hats, including that of an actor, and
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: I had come to see her perform. My friend took
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: me backstage after Maya's performance. I really loved that she
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: looked me directly in the eye as she spoke. Like
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  Speaker 1: so many folks in my own family, she was plain
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: spoken and very straightforward, no beating around the bush with her.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: In many ways, she reminded me of my mom and
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: a multitude of elders in my community. Throughout my life,
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  Speaker 1: I have heard many people say that I remind them
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  Speaker 1: of Maya Angelo. Now, even though I've heard this often
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: enough I'm still surprised when someone says it. Why because
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  Speaker 1: I think I sound like me, not like anybody else.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Right now, perhaps I do sound a bit like her.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I don't know. After all, I was raised by folks
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  Speaker 1: who could just as well have raised Miss Maya. Being
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: with Miss Angelo backstage after her inspiring performance was quite
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: the adventure, and I must admit it actually felt a
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: little spooky. Not only did she remind me of the
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  Speaker 1: many elders in my own family and in my church,
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  Speaker 1: the folks in the community I grew up in the
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  Speaker 1: community of folks I call my personal village, being with
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  Speaker 1: her backstage was kind of like looking in a mirror
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  Speaker 1: because Doctor Maya also reminded me of myself. The words
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  Speaker 1: she used during our conversation, the words she uses in
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  Speaker 1: her poems, the cadence of her voice. From my meeting
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  Speaker 1: with Doctor As I could actually imagine her as one
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  Speaker 1: of the many folks in my own community. The way
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  Speaker 1: she sat, the way she stood, the way she walked,
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  Speaker 1: the way she sang, the way she reached for my hand,
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  Speaker 1: her seriousness, her laughter, her earnestness, all of it. I
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: could even imagine myself sitting at the same table with
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  Speaker 1: her breaking bread together, laughing and joking about good times
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: while we were digging into some collared greens, black eyed
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  Speaker 1: peas and cornbread. So today we are paying tribute. We're
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: talking about and lifting up doctor Maya Angelo. Now our
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: focus is legacy. Today's episode is all about legacy, as
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  Speaker 1: we honor doctor Maya. My focus today is to pay
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: tribute as well as lift up this prolific human being. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the best way to introduce my Angelo is not by
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  Speaker 1: sharing her many many many accolades and awards in prizes.
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  Speaker 1: Not by sharing where she taught, or how many films,
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  Speaker 1: musicals and plays she was in or directed, or how
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  Speaker 1: many books she wrote, books of poetry, memoirs and so
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  Speaker 1: much more. Oh No, the best way to introduce my
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  Speaker 1: Angelo is through her own words, through her own poetry
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  Speaker 1: and prose. This is a woman who stood her ground.
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  Speaker 1: This is a woman who would not be moved. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm gonna say hallelujah and thank goodness for that. Her voice,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm talking about her actual voice. Now, that low contralto,
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  Speaker 1: the tone, the color, the weight of her voice had
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  Speaker 1: the gravitas that made you sit up straight. Her voice
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: embraced you with a certainty, with a lived sense of knowing,
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  Speaker 1: with the assured wisdom of life overflowing with the marvelous
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: blessings of lessons learned. Hers was a voice that said,
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  Speaker 1: I have been around the block, not once, not twice,
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  Speaker 1: not even thrice, but I have been around the block
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  Speaker 1: and inside a few rooms, up a few staircases, and
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: down into a few basements, and I know some things. Yeah, yes,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: I know a few things up in here. My Angelo's voice,
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: with that clarity of catence and presence of purpose, her
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: actual voice and her literary voice, is certainly a voice
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  Speaker 1: to be reckoned, with a voice for the ages. Today,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: in tribute, I will share her poetry and prose. Some
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: of what I share will be familiar to you perhaps,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: and some may be totally new to you, as it
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: was to me as I did my research for this
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: particular show. So I invite you to grab a cup
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: of tea or coffee, or cool glass of water or lemonade,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: or put on your walking shoes, lace them up and
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: grab your earbuts, we are going to have a good
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  Speaker 1: time today. Here is one of Miss Maya's poems. It
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: is one of my favorites. This poem is called Still
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  Speaker 1: I rise, Still I rise. You may write me down
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  Speaker 1: in history with your bitter, twisted lies, you may tread
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: me in the very dirt, But still like dust, I'll rise.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom?
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Because I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in
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  Speaker 1: my living room, just like moons, and like suns with
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: a certain of tides, just like hopes springing high. Still
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: I'll rise? Did you want to see me broken? Bowed
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: head and lowered eyes, shoulders falling down like teardrops weakened
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: you take it awful hard? Because I laugh like I've
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: got gold mines digging in my own backyard. You may
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: shoot me with your words, you may cut me with
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: your eyes. You may kill me with your hatefulness, But
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: still like air, I'll rise. Does my sexess upset you?
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Does it come as a surprise that I dance like
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I've got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs out
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: of the huts of history's shame, I rise up from
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  Speaker 1: a past that's rooted in pain. I rise. I'm a
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: black ocean, leaping and wide, willing and swelling. I bear
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: in the tide, leaving behind nights of terror and fear.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I rise into a daybreak that's wondrously clear. I rise,
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  Speaker 1: bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave. I am the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: dream and the hope of the slave. I rise, I Rise,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: I rise Now. I just love this poem for so
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: many reasons. I think the most significant reason is because
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: it is a story in the voice of a woman
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  Speaker 1: who will not be moved. And two, it tells a
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  Speaker 1: story in a voice of a people, a people that
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: will not be moved, A story about a people who
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: will not give up, who will not give in, a
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: people who refuse to be defined by somebody else's definition
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: of who they ought to be. In her forward to
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Brian Lanker's beautiful book called I Dream a World, Doctor
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  Speaker 1: Angelo writes sublimely, superbly about black women, which is the
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  Speaker 1: singular focus of this book. It is all about black
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  Speaker 1: women who will not be moved. Now, paradoxically in their determination,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: in their steadfastness, their abiding stance of not being moved,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: these black women became movers in their own right, movers
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  Speaker 1: and shakers. In fact, the subtitle to I Dream a
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: World is portraits of Black Women who Changed America. I'm
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: going to repeat that in case you want to write
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: it down. The title I Dream a World and the
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: subtitle is portraits of Black Women who Changed America. Now,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: I want you to imagine, if you will, an oversized book,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: a book that's almost square, and when you open its pages,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: there you will see absolutely exquisite photos, all of them
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: shot and rendered in black and white. Photos of Black
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  Speaker 1: women who changed the world. Who changed the world of
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: their own personal villages and the communities in which they
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: were born, raised, and came of age. Black women who
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: also changed the larger world into which they were thrust,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: or the larger world they chose on their own terms.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: On the opposite page, the facing page, is a narrative,
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  Speaker 1: words from each woman's own mouth, words that paint a
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  Speaker 1: picture of her life. Words that paint a picture of
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  Speaker 1: her work, her family, her struggles, her loves, her hopes,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: her joys, her dealing with barriers and obstacles, and ultimately,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: words that paint a vivid picture of her victories and triumphs.
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  Speaker 1: This book, I Dream a World was published in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty nine. When I bought it. I recognized many of
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  Speaker 1: the names now, some I became familiar with only after
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: reading the narratives and looking into the eyes of the
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: women who looked back at me from the pages. Even now,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: I keep this book on my coffee table. I continue
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: to be inspired by these amazing women, inspired by their lives,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: and inspired by their perseverance and by their impact. You
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: will surely recognize some of the names of the women
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: in this book actors and athletes, singers and civil rights leaders,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: politicians and political activists. Names that have become part of
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: the larger history of America. Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Lena Horne, Shirley Chisholm, Fanny Lou Hamer, Alice Walker, Angela Davis,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Tony Morrison, Leontine Price, Marian Anderson, Merley Evers, Barbara Jordan,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Odetta Ruby, d Gwendolyn Brooks. Some names you may not recognize,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: and yet these women change the game within their sphere
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of influence and sometimes far beyond. Sonya Sanchez, Catherine Dunham,
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  Speaker 1: Eva Jesse, Janetta, Cole b Richards, Ernestine Anderson, Willie may
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  Speaker 1: Ford Smith, Betty Shabaz, Wilma Rudolph doctor Alexa Kennedy, Septima
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  Speaker 1: p Clark. To call their names is a blessing to
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  Speaker 1: sing the sweet music of their names as a litany,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: A perfumed prayer that carries the luscious scent of gardena honeysuckle,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: night blooming, jasmine, magnolia, tuber rose. It is a prayer
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: carry aloft, a prayer lifted up to the heavens, carried
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  Speaker 1: on the wings of raven, eagle and dove. It is
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: a holiness lifted up in rooms filled with the sweet
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: remembrance of breaking bread together, shouting, wailing, calling on the
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  Speaker 1: name of Jesus, and falling on our knees. It is
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: the pipe drift of cherry tobacco, lifted onto the breezes
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: of dawn and again at dusk. It is a prayer
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: lifted up in honor of the red clay roads we
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: have trod to arrive here, to arrive here in the present,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: A prayer lifted up to bless the road ahead, as
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: we look into the heavens and behold the bright, shining
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: guiding star that lights the way to our luminous future.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: What a blessing to call the names of these women
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  Speaker 1: who have built roads and bridges who have cleared paths
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  Speaker 1: and broken new ground for me, for us, for all
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: of us, and for our children. Doctor may Angelo is
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: one of those names. She is one of the women
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: featured in I Dream a World. Her powerful prose is
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: also featured in the forward. In her own words, this
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: truth teller says Black women whose ancestors were brought to
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the United States beginning in sixteen nineteen, have lived through
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: conditions of crew louelties so horrible, so bizarre, the women
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: had to reinvent themselves. They had to find safety and
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: sanctity inside themselves or they would not have been able
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: to tolerate their tortuous lives. They had to learn to
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: be self forgiving quickly, for often their exterior exploits were
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: at odds with their interior beliefs. Still, they had to
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: survive as holy and healthily as possible in an infectious
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and sick climate. Miss Maya goes on to say, lives
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: lived in such cauldrons are either obliterated or forged into
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: impenetrable alloys. Thus, early on and consciously, black women as
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: reality became possibilities only to themselves. To others. They were
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: mostly seen and described in the abstract, concrete in their labor,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: but surreal in their humanness. Can I just tell you something.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: What Maya is saying here continues even today, sad but true.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: I can certainly relate to what she is saying here.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: I was born in rural Mississippi at a time when
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Jim Crow laws had been outlawed, taken off the books.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: Those horrible, cruel laws were gone. They were no longer valid.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Now they were supposed to govern, to rule the behaviors
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: of folks in the South. But in reality, life was
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: still lived as if these abominable laws were still in
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: full and furious force. So you might say, well, that
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: was then, this is now. Yes, you're right, that was
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: then and this is now. Not too long ago, I
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: was teaching. I was ministering to a cohort of executive leaders.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: These leaders have been called to become public servants. These
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: people were called to serve you. Hear me. Right in
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: that room were a handful of people of color. Two
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: of them were African American. I shared my own story
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: about being born in Mississippi and having come of age
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: during the turbulence of the Civil rights movement. I want
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: you to hear me now, I want you to get
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: this to a person. All the people of color had
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: a similar story. Some of them were born and raised
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: as second, third, and fourth generation immigrants. Okay, yet we
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: all shared a story, similar story about having to become
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: possibilities to ourselves because mainstream culture does not recognize or
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: validate us. Now, slowly, surely this is changing, but in
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: many places, we're still treated as though we are invisible,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: still treated as if we do not exist, Still treated
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: as if we are a blip on a page, a
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: blip on a screen, one that can be easily obscured
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: and sometimes just erased. Altogether, I pinch myself every day
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: because I get to work with folks like this as
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: part of what I do as a teacher, as a businesswoman,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: as a creative artist, as a social artist, I get
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: to make a difference in their lives. Now, I have
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: something to tell you about doctor Angelo. Years ago, when
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: I first started studying her poems in her life, she
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: was my role model. At that time in my life,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: I didn't know how to describe my own work. Well,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: that's not totally true. I did know how to describe it,
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: but I didn't know how to describe it in a
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: way where other folks could deal with me. You see,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: I was working in high tech. Yes, imagine me working
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: in corporate America. I did that for twenty three years.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: In fact, I was the highest ranking African American female
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: executive when I left corporate okay and started my own company.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Now these days, I am an executive, coach, speaker, trainer, facilitator,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and organizational consultant. And I know that God has a
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: sense of humor. How do I know that because when
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: I look back in my life and my life experience,
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: he put me in the wilderness, in the desert, on
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: the raging White River so that I could learn what
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: I needed to know in order to do the work
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: I'm doing now. How cool is that? God is so amazing?
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: So we have time for another poem by Miss Maya.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: This poem is called Caged Bird. Caged Bird. In this poem,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: she borrows from another great soul and poet. She borrows
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: images and metaphors. Even the central image of the caged
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: bird she borrows from a poem called Sympathy by Paul
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: Lawrence Dunbar. Doctor Angelo's poem is called caged Bird. The
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: free bird leaps on the back of the wind and
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: floats downstream till the current ends, and dips his wings
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: seldom see through his bars of rage. His wings are
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: clipped and his feet are tied, so opens his throat
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: to sing. The caged bird sings with fearful trill of
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: the things unknown but longed for. Still, his tune is
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: heard on the distant hill. For the caged bird sings
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: of freedom. The free bird thinks of another breeze, and
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn, and he
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: names the sky his own. But a caged bird stands
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: on the grave of dreams. His shadow shouts on a
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: nightmare scream. His wings are clipped and his feet are tied,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: for Still, and his tune is heard on a distant hill.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: For the caged bird sings of freedom. Now this image,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: this metaphor of the caged bird, appears again in Maya's
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: first autobiographical book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: which I like to think of as a poem told
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: in prose. William Carlos Williams reminds us it is difficult
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: to get the news from poems, though, men, and i'd
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: say women too, die miserably every day for lack of
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: what is found there. Miss Maya's poems remind me that
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: inside of every hoem is a bit of news, news
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: that shines the light on what it means to be human.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, doctor Maya Angelo. Today we celebrate you,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: We celebrate the majestic music of your life, and we
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: express our deep, deep gratitude. We thank you for showing
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: us what legacy living is all about. Now, as you know,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: I love to celebrate black lives, Black history every single day,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: three sixty five, twenty four to seven. Now, if you
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: missed last week's episode or any part of this week's
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: you can listen to the recording at your convenience. You
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: can even listen to it on the go. You can
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: find me right here on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: tune in, Spreaker, dot Com, Talk Network, Radio, and so
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: many other places. Before I close, today, I want to
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: thank each of you for tuning in, for allowing me
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: to share a bit about my journey with what legacy
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: living is all about, not just living and learning, but
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: living and learning and serving so that you make a
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: difference in your own life and in the lives of others.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: It's about being on purpose every single day. Three sixty
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: five twenty four seven. Legacy living is a powerful way
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: to make your life count. I'm your host, doctor Gloria
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess, and this has been Legacy living. Make your
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: life count. Please join me again next time right here
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: for another show of legacy living. Make your life count.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Don't just count the days in your life, Make the
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: days in your life count. That's what legacy living is
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: all about. Have a fantastic day, and remember, make the
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: days in your life count. God bless you. That's our
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: show today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: hope you'll join me again next time. Until then, don't
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: just count the days in your life, Make the days
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: in your life count. That's what legacy living is all about.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Here's to you have a fantastic day and be sure
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: to make it a yes kind of day. Remember to
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: celebrate the music of your life. Make the days in
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: your life count