In ‘Letter to My Daughter,’ Angelou reflects on life, grace and self-esteem

By CASSANDRA SPRATLING

“Letter to My Daughter” by Maya Angelou (Random House, $25)

If there is one thing women should do for their daughters, it is praise them and tell them that they are somebody special, says the celebrated author, singer and poet Maya Angelou.

“You tell them they’re pretty,” Angelou says. “You tell them they’re beautiful. You tell them that their hair is nice. Make over her because, know this, in the street there is somebody who’s going to do that, and not to her benefit.

“Let her know that ‘my mother thinks I’m the big cheese,’ so that inside themselves they are secure that they are worthy to be treated well.”

That’s a lesson Angelou learned from her mother, and it’s one described in her latest book, “Letter to My Daughter” (Random House).

Angelou’s new book isn’t actually a letter to her daughter. In fact, she has only one child, a son. But she has mothered and mentored many women, including Oprah Winfrey.

For 20 years, Angelou jotted down ideas, thoughts and snapshots of experiences — but never quite finished them. Last year she looked at what she had written and realized that she might have enough for a book. The result is a collection of reflections and insights that is part memoir, part prose, part poetry and all things Angelou.

It is writing that takes you to a place where you taste the red rice she writes about, sway to the music she talks about and feel the faith that caused her grandmother to trust God in the face of a devastating Depression.

Angelou says she didn’t write the book to preach or to attach a lesson to every story.

“I try not to be that kind of teacher,” she says. “I suggest the reader will know if there’s a lesson in there for her, and it may be a different lesson than the one I extracted.”

Angelou teaches at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she lives. This semester, she’s teaching a course on world poetry and dramatic performance.

During a recent telephone conversation, Angelou discussed subjects ranging from her latest book to Michelle Obama, the economy and aging.

People, she says, ought to look less at possessions and more toward one another for personal fulfillment.

“It’s time for us to stop looking at things ... and look at human beings. Look at the children. Look at the men. Look at the women.”

She fondly recalls meeting Michelle Obama at a campaign fundraiser in October, and describes her as genuine and graceful.

“She’s the real deal. She has no pretense. No preening, no posturing,” Angelou says. “She was exactly herself. I told her, ‘I’m a 6-foot-tall, 80-year-old African-American woman and that brings me to certain things.’ And she said to me, ‘I expect to be able to say that myself.’ ...

“That’s smart. That’s very smart. She’s very intelligent and knows where she is and who she is. She is a blessing.”

That Angelou, who turned 81 on April 4, is still teaching, writing, speaking and motivating women and men is a reflection of the poem that she has come to be known for, “Phenomenal Woman.”

Age shouldn’t stop a woman — or anyone — from accomplishing all she can, she says. She mentions civil rights pioneer Dr. Dorothy Height, president emeritus of the National Council of Negro Women, as an example. The 95-year-old Height has invited Angelou to come to Washington, D.C., in April to speak at an event she is organizing.

“I’m a patsy for her and all older women ... particularly older black women,” says Angelou. “They clap their hands and I come running or walking as fast as I can.”