One of literature's greats has passed away. The much-celebrated award-winning author/poet and activist Maya Angelou was 86.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, Dr. Angelou had been an American Studies professor at North Carolina's Wake Forest University since 1982.
Touted as being "one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream success as an author," Angelou was a national treasure. Despite the harshest upbringing of sexual abuse, Angelou went on to befriend Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a mentor to Oprah Winfrey.
Her most popular work, 1970's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' told her incredible life story, and became standard—if occasionally banned—reading throughout the United States.
Here are, in my opinion, some of her most moving quotes (courtesy of the Guardian):
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
...and for fellow yummies:
"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."
Emma Thompson has landed herself in hot water for airing her views on working moms. According to an article in the Daily Mail, the British actress took a year off work to spend time with her children. Great so far, except she then deemed it necessary to add that, “You can’t be a great mum and keep working all the time.”
"Sometimes in life you’ll have some things, at other times you will have other things," said Thompson. "You don’t need it all at once, it’s not good for you. Motherhood is a full-time job."
Few of us would argue with that statement. Yet few of us are in a position as sweet and cush as Thompson's, admittedly.
Worth an estimated £30 million ($54 million), the 55-year-old freely admits that she could only have gone back on set had she delegated "running the home" to others—like her eminently capable actor hubby, Greg Wise.
Needless to say, Thompson can comfortably afford to take 12 months off, whereas many mothers cannot.
Good for Thompson, who chose to stay home with her kids, 14-year-old daughter, Gaia, and 26-year-old adopted son, Tindyebwa Agaba. But shame on her for assuming that doing so somehow makes her a better mother than others.
Surviving breast cancer is nothing short of a triumph. And women who've come out the other side deserve to feel good about their altered bodies. When it comes to swimwear, one designer has come up with a fashionable solution, courtesy of Viral Nova.
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