03 Aug Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
Maya Angelou, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Maya Angelou and Jean-Michel Basquiat published a children’s book to overcome fear and make life seem less frightening. The powerful collaboration of a poem by Dr. Maya Angelou and the accompanying art by Basquiat screams fearlessly “Life doesn’t frighten me at all” in the face of conjured demons and intimidating everyday situations. This book celebrates the courage within each of us and empowers our inner child to not be intimidated by the world and its workings, whatever age we have. And although it was originally published in 1993, it couldn’t be more necessary than it is now: a book – by a black American poet and civil rights activist and a black American artist who uses his paintings as a social commentary to make visible the experiences of the black community – that tells us to stand brave and fierce.