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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 194
BY REPRESENTATIVES JAMES, BADON, BARROW, WESLEY BI SHOP, BURRELL,
COX, DIXON, FRANKLIN, GAINES, HONORE, HUNTER, KATRINA
JACKSON, JEFFERSON, TERRY LANDRY, NORTON, PIERRE, PRICE,
SMITH, THIERRY, ALFRED WILLIAMS, PATRICK WILLIAMS, AND
WOODRUFF
A RESOLUTION
To express the condolences of the House of Representatives upon the death of famed poet,
author, and activist, Dr. Maya Angelou.
WHEREAS, it is with deep regret and profound sorrow that the Louisiana House of
Representatives has learned of the death of Dr. Maya Angelou, at the age of eighty-six, at
her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, charismatic and passionate, warm and wise, formidable without being
forbidding, Maya Angelou's life was a gift to the world; she shared her talents so selflessly
as a professor, singer, dancer, actress, author, poet, and activist, and it is appropriate to
commemorate her life and legacy; and
WHEREAS, Marguerite Johnson was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri,
to Vivian Baxter Johnson and Bailey Johnson; she grew up between St. Louis and Stamps,
Arkansas, and spent her early years studying dance and drama in San Francisco before
dropping out at age fourteen, instead becoming the city's first African-American female
cable car conductor; and
WHEREAS, due to tragic and unfortunate events in her childhood, Maya did not
speak for many years as an adolescent; out of her silence, a star of world-famed magnitude
was born; and
WHEREAS, Maya later returned to high school to finish her diploma and gave birth
a few weeks after graduation; as she waited tables to support her son, she acquired a passion
for music and dance; and
WHEREAS, Maya toured Europe in the mid-1950s in the opera production "Porgy
and Bess"; in 1957, she recorded her first album, "Calypso Lady"; and ENROLLEDHR NO. 194
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WHEREAS, in 1958, Angelou become a part of the Harlem Writers Guild in New
York and so played a queen in "The Blacks," an off-Broadway production by French
dramatist Jean Genet; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou worked as a coordinator for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, and lived for years in Egypt and Ghana, where she met Nelson
Mandela, who became a lifelong friend, and Malcolm X, whom she remained close to until
his assassination, in 1965; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou was also a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; she
helped King organize the Poor People's March in Memphis, Tennessee, where the civil rights
leader was slain on her fortieth birthday; and
WHEREAS, in 1971, Angelou published the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poetry
collection "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die"; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou's most revered and acclaimed work was "I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings", which was described as a work of art which eludes description, a tough,
funny, lyrical voice that transforms her story from a litany of isolation and suffering into a
hymn of glorious human endurance; it made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller
by an African-American woman; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou was most famous for her poems and books, which were
uplifting, inspiring, and motivating literary masterpieces; in 1993, she was asked to recite
her famous classic, "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in
1993 and for President George W. Bush, she read "Amazing Peace," at the 2005 Christmas
tree lighting ceremony at the White House; and
WHEREAS, in 2011, President Barack Obama awarded Dr. Angelou with the
country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom; she also received
presidential recognition with a National Medal of Arts and an honorary National Book
Award; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou was also one of the first black women film directors; her
work on Broadway was nominated for Tony Awards in addition to countless other honors
she received throughout her lifetime, including thirty honorary degrees, two NAACP Image
Awards, and three Grammy awards; and ENROLLEDHR NO. 194
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WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou was a role model to millions across the globe; her work
inspired dignitaries and heads of state around the world and she will be remembered as a
Renaissance woman, a cultural pioneer, and a beacon of hope and light; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Angelou's life was a gift to the world and it is wholly appropriate
to express condolences upon her death; she leaves behind a rich, renowned history of literary
works and poems that will forever speak of the profoundness and greatness of Dr. Maya
Angelou.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby express condolences upon the death of Dr. Maya
Angelou; does hereby recognize her life as a treasure to the United States and the world;
does hereby commemorate her journey as a black woman born poor who went on to write
and recite the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history; does hereby record for
posterity her contributions as an activist and author who recorded and celebrated the
experience of being black in the United States; and does hereby express the deep regret of
the entire state upon the loss of this legendary and iconic woman.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the family of Dr. Maya Angelou.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Dr. Angelou once said that she wished to be
remembered as in the closing lines of her famous poem "Still I Rise": "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".
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES