Silence echoed all over the world with the passing of Maya Angelou. As the reality of her death sank in, it felt as if we all lost our fairy grandmother because despite never physically meeting the literary poet, we were all impacted by her words and selfless actions.
Today, while catching up with Tika Sumpter about what’s on her horizon, she subtly redirects our conversation on lifestyle and love, to remember the lost poet.
“I know who I am, but to build a life worth something, especially with Maya Angelou passing, you realize too, I want to leave something that is worthy that’s going to be around and inspires people’s passions, life, education, and humanity,” The Have and the Have Nots actress said of our now guardian angel.
“You want to inspire humanity, and that’s what this whole situation is teaching me. All of our greats are getting older. I want to leave a mark on the world.”
In a quest to find her nitch to leave behind, Tika remembers the inspiration the Pultizer prize awardee had on her. Still in disbelief of her passing, “I can’t even believe it. I just feel like a national treasure is gone,” the actress talks the legacy Maya left to her followers, fans, and friends and how she’s going to use what she left as full for her own legacy.
“She left a footprint. She left a blueprint. She left direction. She left so many things for us to work with. That’s what inspires me. Oh my god, my life needs to mean something,” smiling she continues speaking on the poet. “If I can get an ounce of anything that she has, an ounce of her mindset and inspiring somebody and passion and all that stuff, then I feel like hey, I did something in life. I don’t even need a quarter, I just need a little ounce. That’s how affective she was. She lived every drop of her life. Every moment, it was lived. That’s how I feel about Miss Maya.”