Photo by Sarah Andrews

Maya Angelou crafted a message of hope for her audience at the Bucksbaum Lecture last Thursday, framed by wisdom from her personal struggles and triumphs.

Angelou said “rainbows in the clouds” have blessed her life even in the most challenging days. She used personal anecdotes to demonstrate how positives can emerge from life struggles. The phrase, “rainbows in the clouds,” which originates from the flood story in Genesis, appeared several times throughout her lecture. Angelou said the phrase inspired a slave song around the theme that “in the worst of times, there’s the possibility of seeing hope.”

Angelou went on to explain some of her own “worst of times” and the rainbows that brightened her life.

After her parents’ divorce, three-year-old Angelou and her brother Bailey were sent from Los Angeles to rural Stamps, Ark., to live with their grandmother. There, Angelou grew close to her uncle, Willie, who was partially paralyzed. He even taught Angelou her times tables. Many years later, upon returning to Arkansas for Willie’s funeral, Angelou learned Willie had educated others in basic mathematics, including the first black mayor of Little Rock. As a boy, the mayor was an employee at Willie’s store, and he credited Willie with his future success.

Even after his death, Willie continued to impact Angelou’s life.

“Who can say how wide, how deep, how high the breadth, in fact, of his rainbow?” she said.

Angelou, 81, knows much more than her times tables, renowned worldwide for her insightful writing and work in education and with civil rights.

Lecture officials said Angelou drew an of nearly 8,000, making the event the most-attended Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture since the series began in 1996.

Angelou attracted an audience from the Drake campus, but also area high schools, the Des Moines community and other colleges and universities. There were even students from the University of South Dakota in the crowd. A full Knapp Center did not discourage 150 overflow attendees from flocking to Sheslow Auditorium, where the lecture was streamed live onto a projection screen.

Reactions of applause, laughter and meditative silence were sprinkled among her words. President David Maxwell called her lecture one of the “defining moments of this university.”

Angelou said it took her 17 hours to reach Des Moines from North Carolina, as she traveled by bus.

“When I say I’m glad to be here, I mean it,” Angelou said.

While Angelou did not linger on the subject of her poignant book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” she did address being sexually assaulted as a young girl by her mother’s boyfriend. She reported the incident, and the man was arrested. He was released after being locked up for one day and one night. Shortly after his release, he was found murdered.

“I thought my voice had killed a man, and if I spoke again, my voice might just kill anybody,” Angelou said.

Angelou became a voluntary mute for six years after the incident. Despite the social stigma attached to her lifestyle, Angelou’s grandmother would not give up on her.

“She said, ‘You’re gonna be a teacher all over the world,’” Angelou said.

Decades later, she would become just that. Her written works have become famous, and she has received three Grammys and over 30 honorary degrees.

English student Kara McKeever (AS4) enjoyed the lecture.

“Her life is really fascinating with everything she’s accomplished,” McKeever said. “I could have listened to her a lot longer.”

At the end of her speech, Angelou encouraged the audience to be a rainbow for others and to look for the rainbows in their own lives.

Angelou’s words also left an impression on Hayley Harvey, 44, of Des Moines.

“She is a national treasure, and I just had to come out and see her,” Harvey said. “She reminded me of the possibilities out there, and of hope.”