Angelou inspires full house at Irvine

At least 1,200 Penn students, faculty and staff now know why the caged bird sings.

Esteemed poet and best-selling author Maya Angelou, who recited Paul Laurence Dunbar's famous poem "Sympathy" as part of her one-hour lecture last night, shared her words and wisdom with a sold-out crowd in Irvine Auditorium.

The event was sponsored by the Social Planning and Events Committee's Connaissance branch.

After receiving a standing ovation, Angelou began with a 19th-century song, singing, "When it looked like the sun wasn't shining anymore, God put a rainbow in the clouds."

"It is about at the worst of times, the possibility of seeing hope," Angelou said. "This evening, I am going to speak of rainbows in the clouds and read you poetry."

Poetry, Angelou said, is the savior of many blacks in America.

"Blacks are still the last hired and the first fired," she said. "How did these people survive? I suggest poetry."

While poetry may have helped blacks in the face of adversity, Angelou said that she believes poetry transcends racial lines and benefits nearly everyone.

"While you are [at Penn], get the most you can get, and I encourage you to find some African-American poetry," Angelou said. "Go to your librarian and say, 'Mrs. Angelou mentioned some African-American poets. Can you help me?'"

Angelou said that at a university such as Penn, students should demand exposure to such poets and actively thirst for knowledge.

"Men and women, there is a world of difference between being trained and being educated," Angelou said. "You need to have some understanding that someone was there before you, that someone was lonely before you, that someone was abandoned before you, that someone was abused before you."

Poetry and other forms of literature are one vehicle that students can use to receive a true education, Angelou said.

"Read! Read! Put it in here," she said, pointing to her head, wrapped in a traditional African garment. "No one can take it away from you."

However, Angelou's speech did not just provide serious advice, as she stressed the importance of laughter, explaining the dichotomy between seriousness and comedy.

"I am serious, so I laugh a lot," Angelou said. "You need to laugh. You don't laugh enough. I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh."

In fact, throughout the evening, Angelou drew a few laughs herself.

Those who write about blacks and romance "would suggest that white people make love," she said. "Black, brown, beige, red and yellow people just have sex."

Angelou then recited a humorous poem, complete with moves that proved a 73-year-old can still "shake" with the best of them.

"My woman is fat, and chocolate to the bone, and every time she shakes, a skinny woman loses her home," Angelou said.

The audience also appreciated Angelou's pet name for Edgar Allen Poe -- "EAP."

"I loved Poe," she said. "I loved him so much that I called him 'EAP' to myself."

Angelou said that as a young girl, she memorized much of Poe's work. However, as she had never heard his works read aloud, she said she adopted a hip-hop style of recitation, which she demonstrated for the audience as she began to rap, "Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary...," from Poe's famous work "The Raven."

The audience's thunderous applause showed that members enjoyed her urbanized interpretation of the Poe classic.

Angelou also shared her opinion on human nature with the attentive crowd.

"Human beings are more alike than we are unalike," she said. "If you don't learn this at the university, oh my goodness. Why are you studying Heigel... Angelou... Shakespeare?"

Yet, despite the eclectic themes and words that filled her speech, Angelou ended on a full circle note.

"Each one of us can become a rainbow in the clouds," she said.

She then walked off stage to a standing ovation, as enthusiastic as the one that welcomed her.

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