Maya Angelou's Lesson On Courage

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage”.  

Maya Angelou.

Angelou’s lesson on courage is incredibly important to the black (urban) culture. She set a precedence for how to creatively and confidently tell ugly and beautiful truths. Her life’s works was vulnerable, educational, and a testament to the times. Her words changed the way people felt and altered how they thought. Despite the odds and decorum she was courageous enough to be consistent. 

The responsibility for the culture, future, and present was an open-ended question throughout her work. Angelou would always explain that words are things that can get into the air, our clothes, and eventually our minds. There’s power in words. According to Angelou, we owe it to ourselves to speak towards love, growth, community, and anything of the greater good. Not sometimes or when it’s convenient be always, in all ways. 

If we continue the courage that’s rooted in us, our magic will stand the test of time. We will cross the sea of opportunity, mend broken ideologies, create trends, and enforce respect. We will contribute something of value that will represent what’s right and what’s missing in the world. Our contribution to the museum of black history will stand behind Maya Angelou’s work. It will fuel the fire that a phenomenal woman started decades ago.