Posted on 05/28/2014 1:20:46 PM PDT by NYer
Writer and poet Maya Angelou died this morning, according to a family statement. She was found by her caregiver and was reportedly been in poor health and had canceled recent scheduled appearances.
Harold Augenbraum, from the National Book Foundation, said that Angelou’s “legacy is one that all writers and readers across the world can admire and aspire to.”
But while most people are aware of her professional work, they don’t know Angelou’s personal background as well.
Angelou had one son Guy, whose birth was described in her first autobiography, one grandson, and two great-grandchildren. She became pregnant as a teenager and could have sought an illegal abortion but, instead, decided to keep her baby. In an essay that originally appeared in Family Circle magazine, Angelou called that the best decision of her life.
That essay appears below:
“When I was 16, a boy in high school evinced interest in me, so I had sex with him — just once. And after I came out of that room, I thought, Is that all there is to it? My goodness, I’ll never do that again! Then, when I found out I was pregnant, I went to the boy and asked him for help, but he said it wasn’t his baby and he didn’t want any part of it.
I was scared to pieces. Back then, if you had money, there were some girls who got abortions, but I couldn’t deal with that idea. Oh, no. No. I knew there was somebody inside me. So I decided to keep the baby.
My older brother, Bailey, my confidant, told me not to tell my mother or she’d take me out of school. So I hid it the whole time with big blouses! Finally, three weeks before I was due, I left a note on my stepfather’s pillow telling him I was pregnant. He told my mother, and when she came home, she calmly asked me to run her bath.
I’ll never forget what she said: “Now tell me this — do you love the boy?” I said no. “Does he love you?” I said no. “Then there’s no point in ruining three lives. We are going to have our baby!”
What a knockout she was as a mother of teens. Very loving. Very accepting. Not one minute of recrimination. And I never felt any shame.
I’m telling you that the best decision I ever made was keeping that baby! Yes, absolutely. Guy was a delight from the start — so good, so bright, and I can’t imagine my life without him.
At 17 I got a job as a cook and later as a nightclub waitress. I found a room with cooking privileges, because I was a woman with a baby and needed my own place. My mother, who had a 14-room house, looked at me as if I was crazy! She said, “Remember this: You can always come home.” She kept that door open. And every time life kicked me in the belly, I would go home for a few weeks.
I struggled, sure. We lived hand-to-mouth, but it was really heart-to-hand. Guy had love and laughter and a lot of good reading and poetry as a child. Having my son brought out the best in me and enlarged my life. Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today. He was once asked what it was like growing up in Maya Angelou’s shadow, and he said, “I always thought I was in her light.”
Years later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn’t conceive. Isn’t it wonderful that I had a child at 16? Praise God!”
Well, newb, 'round these parts, we properly call "keeps her fetus"...
GIVING BIRTH TO HER BABY.
And the opposite case would be killing her baby.
In this context, referring to the human being inside the womb as "her fetus" is very dehumanizing. That human has the right not to get sliced up into ribbons.
Of course, properly enough.
Yet it is used usually by those who support abortion.
It means goo.
OK but....I just read that she was thrilled with Obama and desperately wanted him to have a 2nd term.
She wanted a liberal Supreme Court, my definition of pro life she does not fit
Did she ever weep for the unborn to the point of pleading with people to vote for pro life candidates? I see no evidence of this
Glad she did not kill her own child
God Bless her
And she thinks Mrs Obama is great??? I have no respect for folks that are not pro life period
I would not attend a Church that did not feel the same as myself on this
Yes I hope she was saved
Thank You, I love how you said that. A red flag goes up when I hear people referring to a fetus
Very few Catholic Priests tell people to vote only for pro life Candidates.
Do not recall any Pope`s being strong enough on pro life values either, so I guess in that respect she is no worse than them?
but still this was a lady that not only remained silent on abortion imo,went out of her way to celebrate her Democrat Party pro abortion platform
If she was truly a Christian, she should have supported Sarah Palin and God`s unborn Children at the same time. If she was a Christian why didn`t she support Christ by standing up for Christian values?
If she was truly pro life, why didn`t she at the very least rally so called Christian Democrats (a oxymoron imo) to demand the party be pro life??
I think the answer is simple, they are not pro life.
Do we get awards for not killing our children?
You're welcome, and I note that he/she changed their language later.
However, to be honest, I think it is all in the context of how you use the term. For example, I'm working on a project that "documents fetal development". When I say this, I think - ? hope ? - that it is clear that I'm referring to a specific phase in human development, before the human becomes a post-birth "infant".
I kind of think of the term "baby" as encompassing the "zygote/embryo, fetus, infant" phases of human development.
But, I could be wrong. Should I be referring to my project differently?
I thanked you for capturing the right spirit, as you have
When a Democrat/pro abortion person mentions Fetus, it`s meant with a political agenda denying life
I like Baby personally, but like I said was giving you thumbs up
She could be wrong about stuff 99 times out of 100, but when she tells the truth and does the right thing, yes, I will stand and applaud. Yes.
point taken
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