Amazing Peace (English)

Read at the lighting of the White House Christmas tree on December 1, 2005, Maya Angelou's long poem, AMAZING PEACE, celebrates the common bonds shared by people of all faiths. One passage highlights this theme: "We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope./All the earth's tribes loosen their voices/To celebrate the promise of peace." AMAZING PEACE is not the first Angelou poem to have political connections; ON THE PULSE OF MORNING was read at the inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993. Angelou entered the literary world in 1970 with her touching memoir I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS, which recounts her troubled childhood in the South. Heavily emphasizing African-American culture and history, her writing has found fans around the world because of its inspiring, universal lessons of overcoming obstacles and surviving. minimize