We wear the mask that grins and lies. It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes. This debt we pay to human guile With torn and bleeding hearts… We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties. Why should the world think otherwise In counting all our tears and sighs. Nay let them only see us while We wear the mask. We smile but oh my God Our tears to thee from tortured souls arise And we sing Oh Baby doll, now we sing… The clay is vile beneath our feet And long the mile But let the world think otherwise. We wear the mask. When I think about myself I almost laugh myself to death. My life has been one great big joke! A dance that’s walked a song that’s spoke. I laugh so hard HA! HA! I almos’ choke When I think about myself. Seventy years in these folks’ world The child I works for calls me girl I say “HA! HA! HA! Yes ma’am!” For workin’s sake I’m too proud to bend and Too poor to break So…I laugh! Until my stomach ache When I think about myself. My folks can make me split my side I laugh so hard, HA! HA! I nearly died The tales they tell sound just like lying They grow the fruit but eat the rind. Hmm huh! I laugh uhuh huh huh… Until I start to cry when I think about myself And my folks and the children. My fathers sit on benches, Their flesh count every plank, The slats leave dents of darkness Deep in their withered flank. And they gnarled like broken candles, All waxed and burned profound. They say, but sugar, it was our submission that made your world go round. There in those pleated faces I see the auction block The chains and slavery’s coffles The whip and lash and stock. My fathers speak in voices That shred my fact and sound They say, but sugar, it was our submission that made your world go round. They laugh to conceal their crying, They shuffle through their dreams They stepped ’n fetched a country And wrote the blues in screams. I understand their meaning, It could an did derive From living on the edge of death They kept my race alive By wearing the mask! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
The sound of this woman's voice simply gives me chills and goosebumps.her voice is amazing and what she has to say is soo real and inspires me.this woman is so wise and loving.she makes me smile whenever I see her :) simply amazing! Rest in peace Maya Angelou. I love everything you did! You will live on forsure! Gone but NEVER forgotten.
This is one of my all time favorite poems by Dr.Maya Angelo. I remember watching it when it first aired, and tears streamed down my face. What a poet, and true inspiration she was for women and men everywhere. IT was through this poem, I learned I had to take off a mask, and never put it on again. Love
A Great Soul has passed in these times when we need her most. May Dr. Angelo's poems live on to teach the children, awaken the masses and connect to make us whole.
Why is she gone? Where is she for me and all of us, besides memories and replayed poems? Now that I need her, so did God... But grateful am I that she lives on to teach me enough...
Yes, this is why I love to listen to Maya Angelou. Her wisdom and life experiences teaches if people just listen. I love the people I come from and that's love. No human can be no human than another human being.
“ The Truth is, No Human Being can be MORE Human than another Human Being.” Maya Angelou~ So simple, yet so profound. 🤯 Bring Peace where ever you go. ❤️🙏🏼
I'm so choked up after watching this........nothing is a mistake.....nothing is happenstance.....Like Maya Angelou said, We are ALL Human. I'm so glad I am in the world while Maya Angelou existed in this world. Her residue still heals, still strengthens.....Now that's ever lasting POWER! -Monea' aka BorntomotivateFILM
I heard Ms. Angelou recite this YEARS ago...I've ALWAYS remembered this, more than anything else I've heard from/by her. It stuck with me, and is actually something I've done in life to keep from breaking down when things become too much for me to bear.
I never did wear a mask..then I saw my sister's did..they were raised in the deep south..but I left very young..I escaped so many old ideas..thank you creator. We forge my path🌳🍃❤
I like how Ma immediately said “It’s love, not sentimentality.” As I was almost going to respond with tears, then I stopped myself thinking, it was an experience. I cannot feel shame or sadness for her experience. I can appreciate it, and as Ma states, it was her expression of love.
Though this has been our plight I guarantee that not everyone can be us. And I'm sure that others thinks that about themselves and their own people. But we wear the struggle of a people who will always fight against the odds and we will stand to the very end of our individual lives. I am proud of my life and my people's legacy. I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Thank you Maya Angelou for this beautiful and thought provoking poem on many levels of "the struggle". Rest In Peace. ❤️
This gave me chills....She is timeless...her gift is timeless..only jealousy and foolish pride keeps one from truly understanding what she is relating...
I Thank You May a Angelos, for the many years of expressed feelings,and poetic thoughts you shared with me and throughout your life time. You will need error be forgotten. ... R.I.P. LOVE DEBRA.2015
So much sincerity in her voice. The depth in her voice is magnificent. Truly a voice of the people. The human people, the human race. Her race was won. God Bless.
Thx from "pale" guy from other side of the ocean, you nailed it and brought me to tears in the middle of some laughter , a blues'er since he was 15 , having had so many blue's , dark blue in (the eyes of my dying mother), light blue (in the eyes of my kids ) like the sky on a clear day's morning ......
My GOD.......I LOVED HER THEN I LOVE HER NOW AND WILL LOVE HER ALWAYS..Had the whole world listen to all the messages I believe we would all have been more understanding to one another
No human being can be more human than another human being! I liberate you from my ignorance... love this woman's level of intellect. One of a kind... Born naturally devine! Big ups to you mama 💪❤👍strong love!!!
I love Ms. Ms. Angelou's Poetry and Books. I sometimes wish I'd had a relationship like that between herself and Ms. Oprah Winfrey . Oprah spoke of her often, how part of Ms. Angelou was hers in that, she was her mentor. Lucky Oprah, I'll bet she would have placed herself in Ms. Angelou's handbag if she could. I imagine it now. Nestled among a few personal items Oprah would have loved it, going everywhere Ms, Angelou went. No decisions having to be made from day to day, just lying back against a cotton embroidered Handerchief , protected by a small pink book . Shopping with Ms. Angelou, thinking how wonderfully comfortable her.handbag was. What a treat , thank you.
These are fundamental lessons Black people have forgotten, the sacrifices our ancestors had to make. Black people please understand our time is coming! Don't wither and fall, we have to keep going forward. Some want make it, but most will!
it's crazy how incredible she is. To see something most people would mock or forget about and pull out the thing that is so beautiful and so profound . . . there is no one like her
Such a humble woman. I could only hope to be as beautiful a person as she is. Made me cry. I wish more 13 years olds like myself would appreciate this wonderful woman. She speaks to me through everything I do.
Dear God, I love this woman like she was my own grandmother.
Me too. I never got to meet her, but through the years her words resonate in my soul.
She is our grandmother not by flesh but by spirit.
Yes! I say she is my grandma too 💞 RIP Dear Grandma
She is our grandmother.
I wish she my grandmother so I can listen to her poem ♥️
She could've been the president of the United States if she wanted to. What a woman!
Phenomenal Woman....
Phenomenally
We need twenty of her today😭
Her job was so much more important than that. Her job was to change the world and she did.
@@36isnotold Amen!!
@NEGUS ASKARI HODARI ❤
"No human being can be more human being than another human." Beautiful and true words. To everyone who agrees, have a blessed day. Peace.
i beg to differ
i beg to differ
Blessings to you too 🙏
Thank you. 🦋
, @@orafranc237
Her wisdom is just beautiful.
gotta respect a woman who can make a grownass black man pull down his sunglasses to wipe off a tear on BET.
The spirit of God..... moves through her voice
Love..... moves through her voice.
@@momackay God is Love...
True vessel of God
Nope. Thats all her. She's incredible.
The atmosphere shifted right when you left us Mama Dr. Maya. We love you ❤️🥹
Nothing can compare to this lady who blessed our lives
Who's here in 2021? So profound! Still makes me cry.
2022
Here in 2024 & yes she is timeless and her profound words and the 'shape' that she had of the world
"The truth is: no human being can be more human than another human being."
Such profound words.
Yes.
"But sugar it was our submission that made your world go round..."
We wear the mask that grins and lies.
It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes.
This debt we pay to human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts…
We smile and mouth the myriad subtleties.
Why should the world think otherwise
In counting all our tears and sighs.
Nay let them only see us while
We wear the mask.
We smile but oh my God
Our tears to thee from tortured souls arise
And we sing Oh Baby doll, now we sing…
The clay is vile beneath our feet
And long the mile
But let the world think otherwise.
We wear the mask.
When I think about myself
I almost laugh myself to death.
My life has been one great big joke!
A dance that’s walked a song that’s spoke.
I laugh so hard HA! HA! I almos’ choke
When I think about myself.
Seventy years in these folks’ world
The child I works for calls me girl
I say “HA! HA! HA! Yes ma’am!”
For workin’s sake
I’m too proud to bend and
Too poor to break
So…I laugh! Until my stomach ache
When I think about myself.
My folks can make me split my side
I laugh so hard, HA! HA! I nearly died
The tales they tell sound just like lying
They grow the fruit but eat the rind.
Hmm huh! I laugh uhuh huh huh…
Until I start to cry when I think about myself
And my folks and the children.
My fathers sit on benches,
Their flesh count every plank,
The slats leave dents of darkness
Deep in their withered flank.
And they gnarled like broken candles,
All waxed and burned profound.
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
that made your world go round.
There in those pleated faces
I see the auction block
The chains and slavery’s coffles
The whip and lash and stock.
My fathers speak in voices
That shred my fact and sound
They say, but sugar, it was our submission
that made your world go round.
They laugh to conceal their crying,
They shuffle through their dreams
They stepped ’n fetched a country
And wrote the blues in screams.
I understand their meaning,
It could an did derive
From living on the edge of death
They kept my race alive
By wearing the mask! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Thats My People, Thats Love
Thank you for sharing each beautiful word of this poem❤
Thank you for putting these words up. ❤️
Extraordinary Thank you
Thank you
No human can be more human than another human being. (love)
i dont agree with that, but that doesn't matter
@@orafranc237 You dont have to agree but if you arent our race you will "never" understand. I say this unapapologetically.
What an amazing woman. To rise out of ashes without bitterness but love.
rest in peace Maya Angelou rest in peace
Amen
The sound of this woman's voice simply gives me chills and goosebumps.her voice is amazing and what she has to say is soo real and inspires me.this woman is so wise and loving.she makes me smile whenever I see her :) simply amazing! Rest in peace Maya Angelou. I love everything you did! You will live on forsure! Gone but NEVER forgotten.
She is so true with what she says GOD loves us all the same...PEACE
RIP 1928-2014 You will be missed...
And I can imagine she's already got 1000 sonnets made out while she's up there that are even better.
Wow...tell me about it...
In order to keep a person down, you got to be there with them...
Cindy Ibrahim it is the other way around
Cindy Ibrahim love it ! Right on que
Wow Cindy. You have words too !
"Bring peace in your heart whenever you go anywhere. ... You understand? It's my prayer for you." I just love that. Thank you for posting.
They laughed, indeed, to 'cover' the mask! TEACH us, oh wise one!!💕🌹
Beautiful!!!!
This woman damned near always brings me to tears. What a phenomenal woman. May God bless her for all eternity.
🙏
This is one of my all time favorite poems by Dr.Maya Angelo. I remember watching it when it first aired, and tears streamed down my face. What a poet, and true inspiration she was for women and men everywhere. IT was through this poem, I learned I had to take off a mask, and never put it on again.
Love
Jester Jenkins :*O)
We wear the mask to keep our secrets. They don't deserve to see our pain
I cried so hard when I heard this poem for the first time... so thankful for my ancestors and all they went through just so I can be here.
66 year old MEN can cry?? I am guilty!! RIP DR,MAYA ANGELOU! NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN.
A Great Soul has passed in these times when we need her most. May Dr. Angelo's poems live on to teach the children, awaken the masses and connect to make us whole.
Jeanne-Marie Aurnague dr
Why is she gone? Where is she for me and all of us, besides memories and replayed poems? Now that I need her, so did God... But grateful am I that she lives on to teach me enough...
Yes, this is why I love to listen to Maya Angelou. Her wisdom and life experiences teaches if people just listen. I love the people I come from and that's love. No human can be no human than another human being.
Mr favorite part - "Just decide, 'I'm going to take peace with me, i'm not gonna wait till I get there to make it'"@5:15
Matthew Nall Yes! I started listening to Adyashanti & he says same. So good to remember...
“I laugh so hard I start to crying 😢 “..” when I think about myself “ I’m only 17 and I knowsss . I laugh to numb away the pain and trauma
“ The Truth is, No Human Being can be MORE Human than another Human Being.”
Maya Angelou~
So simple, yet so profound. 🤯
Bring Peace where ever you go.
❤️🙏🏼
I'm so choked up after watching this........nothing is a mistake.....nothing is happenstance.....Like Maya Angelou said, We are ALL Human. I'm so glad I am in the world while Maya Angelou existed in this world. Her residue still heals, still strengthens.....Now that's ever lasting POWER! -Monea' aka BorntomotivateFILM
Phenomenal Dr. Maya Angelou 🌷💚🦅☕ I smile Rest in peace 🙏💙 Psalm 23
What a privilege to have had this QUEEN 👑 in the world 🌍 Your words will live on in our hearts 💙💚🧡 forever Maya Angelou 🙏🏻👼🏽🙏🏻
Such a powerful poem.
"I liberate you from my ignorance" RIP Dr Maya Angelou
She's amazing simply amazing
“In order to bring a person down you gotta be right there with them” I love her😩❤️
Maya Angelou is such a beautiful woman who if you read about her you would be suprised what she was and what GOD made her to be...Love HER
I miss this Golden lady. A library of Loving knowledge & emotions. This Queen was truly Love ❤️
I heard Ms. Angelou recite this YEARS ago...I've ALWAYS remembered this, more than anything else I've heard from/by her. It stuck with me, and is actually something I've done in life to keep from breaking down when things become too much for me to bear.
She is one of my favorites!!! So much power
MAYA ANGELOU you were a fantastic phenominal woman words cannot describe how your words brings me joy love you loads RIP lovely lady
OHH Maya may your beautiful soul rest in peace. I love you
"We wear the mask"😢😢😭
What an extraordinary woman she was.. She was a blessing.. But oh what pearls of wisdom she left behind..🔥💎💯💕
I saw this one Sunday, while walking out the door on the way to Sunday school; I couldn't help my cry.
R.I.P
Gone but not forgotten.
You were a gem.
Hearing her voice always bring joy to my heart!!!!
She said to take peace with you! !!
I love this spiritual lifting 🥰😍😍
She is so phenomenal, thank you Grandma Maya for all you've done Rest in power 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
What a gem...what a rare and fine gem....I'm glad that she is one of MY people!!!!!
I still can’t understand how God created a woman to be so effortlessly beautifully brilliant ❤
Dr. Maya 's voice is like a warm hug on a cold Chicago day. 😊
My grandmother and aunt use to wear that mask, may they rest in peace and I couldn't understand... why... now I do.😢
LA Dama De Nadie Life kills beauty internally.
I never did wear a mask..then I saw my sister's did..they were raised in the deep south..but I left very young..I escaped so many old ideas..thank you creator. We forge my path🌳🍃❤
I like how Ma immediately said “It’s love, not sentimentality.” As I was almost going to respond with tears, then I stopped myself thinking, it was an experience. I cannot feel shame or sadness for her experience. I can appreciate it, and as Ma states, it was her expression of love.
THE LADY SIMPLY STUNS "MY SOUL"!
Her words were/ are water to our spirit. RIP ❤❤❤ wake up Black Americans!
She was and will always be the ultimate inspiration!!!
She just makes me smile.
Though this has been our plight I guarantee that not everyone can be us. And I'm sure that others thinks that about themselves and their own people. But we wear the struggle of a people who will always fight against the odds and we will stand to the very end of our individual lives. I am proud of my life and my people's legacy. I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Thank you Maya Angelou for this beautiful and thought provoking poem on many levels of "the struggle". Rest In Peace. ❤️
This poem never fail to make my tear up.
This gave me chills....She is timeless...her gift is timeless..only jealousy and foolish pride keeps one from truly understanding what she is relating...
Words of wisdom. Thank you, for your words, Dr. Angelou. You inspire me as the writer in progress, that I am.
We take the mask off survival is not the mode anymore , I thank you for giving you .👑💜
I Thank You May a Angelos, for the many years of expressed feelings,and poetic thoughts you shared with me and throughout your life time. You will need error be forgotten. ...
R.I.P. LOVE DEBRA.2015
This woman was amazing. But whoever edited this so badly needs a slap!
Mama thank you for leaving something for us to look to ...rest with angels maya
👍Love her. I’m blessed that I had the pleasure to meet her. 💞
I played this video for my learners in class today and before the end of the video half the learners were in tears.
So much sincerity in her voice. The depth in her voice is magnificent. Truly a voice of the people. The human people, the human race. Her race was won. God Bless.
Maya Angelou was such a heaven sent, an Angel directly from God to us humans to preach His Gospel for over 6 decades 🙏🙌💞
Thx from "pale" guy from other side of the ocean, you nailed it and brought me to tears in the middle of some laughter , a blues'er since he was 15 , having had so many blue's , dark blue in (the eyes of my dying mother), light blue (in the eyes of my kids ) like the sky on a clear day's morning ......
Wearing the mask is comes so natural.. Awesome poem
This piece was SOUL STIRRING!!! #RealityPoet💕👑
Amen
I love her!!! Her and my grandmother. Smartest women ever!!!
Her spirit is so beautiful. She is so inspiring. Her views of life is so gorgeous. Thank you, God for giving us an angel.
I am crying. I read her books in middle School but I'm older now and have such a different outlook and appreciation for her
My GOD.......I LOVED HER THEN I LOVE HER NOW AND WILL LOVE HER ALWAYS..Had the whole world listen to all the messages I believe we would all have been more understanding to one another
I never tire of watching this video. Beautiful And truthful
Ms. Angelou, you will never know how valuable your life has been to so many people. I love you so much so very much💖
No human being can be more human than another human being! I liberate you from my ignorance... love this woman's level of intellect. One of a kind... Born naturally devine! Big ups to you mama 💪❤👍strong love!!!
She speaks such wisdom .I truly wish that I had the privilege to have met her .She makes everyone feel important no matter who you are .😊
I love Ms. Ms. Angelou's Poetry and Books. I sometimes wish I'd had a relationship like that between herself and Ms. Oprah Winfrey . Oprah spoke of her often, how part of Ms. Angelou was hers in that, she was her mentor. Lucky Oprah, I'll bet she would have placed herself in Ms. Angelou's handbag if she could. I imagine it now. Nestled among a few personal items Oprah would have loved it, going everywhere Ms, Angelou went. No decisions having to be made from day to day, just lying back against a cotton embroidered Handerchief , protected by a small pink book . Shopping with Ms. Angelou, thinking how wonderfully comfortable her.handbag was. What a treat , thank you.
One of my favorite poems
There was and very well never will be again.. in my opinion.. a more beautiful soul to Grace this planet. Bless Miss Maya Angelou's soul..
I cried ...because i got tired of wearing the mask..this was beautiful and a beautiful lady
Thank You!!!!
Everytime I hear this women my heart fills with goodness she inspires me to be a better person ❤
One love sister ❤️💛💚
Laugh to keep from crying
Yes. We wear the mask. That's how we've survived all these generations. Maya Angelou. There'll never be another.
These are fundamental lessons Black people have forgotten, the sacrifices our ancestors had to make. Black people please understand our time is coming! Don't wither and fall, we have to keep going forward. Some want make it, but most will!
Her delivery was everything. With so much compassion, heart filled emotion and laughter, she recited this poem. So, so powerful!
This woman inspires, educated, comforts and ... all while wearing... 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
it's crazy how incredible she is. To see something most people would mock or forget about and pull out the thing that is so beautiful and so profound . . . there is no one like her
OH YOU BEAUTIFUL LADY...HOW U TOUCH MY HEART....
RIP you are an amazing women.
2017 and I'm still feeling this as a black woman in America..the world.
I love the truth! Real Talk!!!!
Such a humble woman. I could only hope to be as beautiful a person as she is. Made me cry. I wish more 13 years olds like myself would appreciate this wonderful woman. She speaks to me through everything I do.