2014 -- H 8257

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LC005794

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING PROFOUND SYMPATHY ON THE PASSING OF MAYA ANGELOU

     Introduced By: Representatives Williams, Hull, Abney, McNamara, and Lima

     Date Introduced: May 29, 2014

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, It is with great sadness that this House has learned of the passing of Maya

Angelou, a legendary litterateur, a luminary for equality and justice, and an inspiration for our

generation; and

     WHEREAS, As a child, Maya Angelou studied dance and drama. By age fourteen, she

had dropped out of school. At age sixteen, she was the first female streetcar driver in San

Francisco, and by seventeen, she was a single-mother; and

     WHEREAS, Conquering a life that was filled with twists and turns and struggles, Maya

Angelou found her success and her strength in ingenuity and creativity; and

     WHEREAS, In the mid 50s, Maya Angelou toured Europe in an opera production, and in

1957, she recorded her first album. By 1958, she had joined the Harlem Writers Guild and was

acting in an off Broadway play; and

     WHEREAS, There is an old proverb, "From humble beginnings come great things."

From a young girl living in poverty with very little formal education in a racially segregated

town, Maya Angelou became a woman who spoke at least six languages and had been awarded

more than 30 honorary degrees. She wrote seven autobiographies, including the highly acclaimed

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," three books of essays, and several books of poetry. She also

taught at a University and worked as a newspaper editor in Egypt and Ghana; and

     WHEREAS, In 1993, at President Clinton's first inauguration, Maya Angelou inspired

this nation when she read "On the Pulse of Morning," a poem that celebrates diversity; and

     WHEREAS, Speaking in her moving and melodious voice, with words filled with hope,

she stood alongside such civil rights leaders and activists as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and

Malcolm X, and heartened this nation to change; and

     WHEREAS, Over the course of her lifetime, Maya Angelou was awarded myriad honors

including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, a Tony Award nomination, three Grammys for her spoken

word albums, the National Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008, and the

Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011; and

     WHEREAS, Her good friend and student, Oprah Winfrey, described Maya Angelou a

woman who "moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace";

now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby expresses our deepest sympathies on the passing of Maya

Angelou. She will forever be remembered for her efforts to uplift and enrich our lives through her

beautiful words and noble deeds.

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