But she did feel sexy. She thought of her vagina as "diamonds" - I'd only ever thought of mine as something slightly shameful to cover up and never discuss. To me, women's bodies were totally opposite to this powerful pride Angelou was describing. I'd always felt on some level that while men's bodies could be powerful, women's bodies were meant to be beautiful - not strong.
Maya Angelou in a 1957 portrait taken for the Caribbean Calypso Festival
I learnt then that I was wrong. Women didn't have to conform to this Hollywood, glossy magazine world - we could wear our bodies however we wanted to.
It didn't matter if we were rich or poor, or were oppressed in any way because we could fight back. We didn't have to be 'seen and not heard' or act like the stereotypical definition I'd learnt about 'girls' - we could be sassy and proud.
"Does my sassiness upset you?" wrote Angelou to her oppressors, in the poem that was read out at Nelson Mandela's inauguration. "Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room."
Her words still inspire me just as much as they did on that afternoon in 2006 - in fact, they mean more to me now that I've read her famous autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
I know that she was sent to live with her grandmother as a toddler, wearing just a tag round her wrist saying 'To Whom It May Concern.' I've read in detail how her mum's boyfriend raped her when she was seven and how when her uncles subsequently killed him, Angelou thought it was her fault and didn't speak for five years.
Later, her first sexual experiment led to her becoming a single mum aged 16. She then had a career that included prostitution, writing, singing and working alongside Malcolm X.
My life is very far away from that of a 20th century America still recovering from racial segregation and I was lucky to have a childhood free from Angelou's difficulties. But I am still so moved by Angelou's determination, her journey in rising from nothing to become a global role model and above all, by her total womanliness.
Maya Angelou in 2002
Dr Brooke Magnanti , who grew up in the American South and read Angelou's autobiography in school, agrees. She tells me: "Caged Bird is a story about a young woman who experienced sexual abuse, who had questions about her identity and her sexuality. With the term 'intersectional feminism' on so many lips these days, [Angelou's] work speaks to much of that.
"We needed Maya Angelou. We need Maya Angleou. Now we have lost her, I hope a new generation of Mayas comes through who will be embraced by the literary establishment as she was."
I couldn't agree more. Angelou has written about slavery, racism and misogyny in a way that becomes relevant to every woman around the world who has ever faced prejudice for her sex.
She was unpredictable and inspiring. Her roots were tough and some of her decisions were questionable. But she kept on going and she owned her body in a way that I never could at 16, and am still trying to do. She isn't here with us anymore, but I don't doubt that her words will keep on rising in every woman who reads them.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1lTe3za
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