Maya Angelou died today (yesterday, I guess, now that it’s 1AM). She was an extraordinary woman, and I wish to say this about her legacy:

Maya Angelou dared to dream, and she dared to dare us all to dream. She looked straight into us (as she has that ability to do, from thousands of miles away), and explicitly urged us to do better, to be better. We live in an interesting time when it’s too cliche to urge the public and the young to be visionaries– when the most educated and accomplished among us veer towards niche, obscure topics in conversations and talks because they are novel rather than because they are important. Maya Angelou reminds us gently, strongly that we can all be visionaries, that we should all be visionaries, that we shouldn’t be embarrassed to want to be visionaries. She reminds us that a full life– of imperfections, courage, and vulnerability– makes us wiser, that humility is a virtue, and that we shouldn’t hide behind our insecurities, because our dreams are that much grander.