'A rainbow in the clouds'

Maya Angelou discusses love, influencing others at SIUE

Issue date: 10/6/09 Section: A&E

Media Credit: Derrick Hawkins/ Alestle

Poet and writer Maya Angelou came to the Morris University Center's Meridian Ballroom Sunday.

Applause erupted across the Morris University Center's Meridian Ballroom Sunday as world-renowned writer Maya Angelou, 81, stepped out onto the small stage. She wore a simple black beaded shirt and skirt with an elegant string of pearls looped around her neck. She smiled graciously as a man helped her into a tall chair and adjusted the microphone.

She waited until the applause died away before she opened her mouth - and sang: "When it looked like the sun wasn't gonna shine anymore… God put a rainbow in the clouds."

For the next hour, hundreds of people from the St. Louis area sat captivated as Angelou recounted stories of her Uncle Willie and traveling by coach bus. She recited poetry about love, changing the world and health food.

"I write poems to make me laugh, sometimes," she said, prefacing a poem called "Health Food Diner," which extols the virtues of the "smoking carnivore."

The audience laughed and clapped, thousands of eyes fixated on the lone gray-haired woman on stage who spoke as if she could be everyone's grandmother. Each story and poem was linked with advice centered around the refrain of the old folk song she sang at the beginning.

"You're here so that you can become a rainbow in somebody's cloud," Angelou said. "Each one of us has possibility and potential … the responsibility of being a rainbow in the clouds. That's who we are at our very best."

Through the simplest daily acts, whether it be paying someone a compliment, offering to do a small favor or just saying good morning, Angelou said people have the chance to change someone's life, to be their rainbow.

"You have no idea how far your gifts will rain and what good they will do," she said.

Angelou spoke part of SIUE's Arts & Issues series.

Angelou said St. Louis and SIUE remain special to her because of her history and friendships in the area.

"One's heart is always in St. Louis if you are an American," Angelou said. "St. Louis is the entry to the rest of the country. The Arch invites us all to be in St. Louis."

Angelou said many students at SIUE are the first in their families to go to college, and she found this drive to improve is inspirational when she visited SIUE in the past.

Page 1 of 3 next >