Conventional wisdom says history repeats itself. Maya Angelou disagrees. In her 1993 inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton called On the Pulse of Morning she says, “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” For a woman born in an era when equal rights were nonexistent, Angelou has seen and felt her share of the wrenching pain that came from being black and female in America.
Angelou will be discussing the civil rights era on free public radio stations once again during the month of February. An RCW Media Productions press release announced on Friday that Maya Angelou’s Black History Month Special will be available free to all PRI, Public Radio International and African American Public Radio Consortium stations.
Among many other awards, Angelou was the recipient of the 2011 President’s Medal of Freedom and has been the recipient of many honors over the years for her work. Her writings include autobiographical series, poems, plays and screenplays, through which she has used the power of the written word to further the civil rights movement. Whether dancing, writing, directing, acting, public speaking or educating, everything this global renaissance woman does is aimed toward empowering future generations.
It is important that we remember and face this painful part of our history and continue to make strides forward. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States in 1865. One hundred years later, integration was just beginning to become a reality. Forty-three years later, the United States would finally elect a black man as its 44th president. Though the country has taken leaps and bounds toward equality, our work is not yet finished. And as Angelou alludes to in her inaugural poem, we must be willing to face our history courageously.
The preamble of the U.S. Constitution uses the words “a more perfect union.” It is toward that which we always must be striving; not just between the states, not just between the branches of government, but also between the individuals who make up “we the people.”
Tune in during the month of February and listen to Maya Angelou offer her experience and wisdom regarding the civil rights era. If you aren’t sure whether this free broadcast will be available in your area, contact your local public radio station and request that it be aired. Check local listings and times to find out when you can hear the broadcast locally. This program that looks back at earlier times is also history in the making.