Mayor Harp's tribute to poet Maya Angelou

The office of New Haven Mayor Toni N. Harp sent a release today in which Harp described Maya Angelou "as a model and an inspiration, particularly among African-American women."

Here is the rest of the release unedited):


“Maya Angelou was the source of experience, hope, endurance, and
faith, and she was a profound influence on several generations of
Americans,” Mayor Harp said. “Maya Angelou wrote and spoke from her
heart and her core, which seemed inextricably linked with a greater
presence and louder-than-human voice.”

Mayor Harp said she still remembers the poem Angelou wrote and shared
with the nation as part of President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in
1993, which coincided with then-Senator Harp’s first term in the
Connecticut General Assembly.

“The final few lines of Maya Angelou’s poem that day filled me with
hope for the new administration in Washington, and for any contribution
I might make in the new chapter of my career just underway,” Mayor
Harp said.

Mayor Harp said she hopes New Haven residents will be similarly
inspired by those words today:

“Here, on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, and into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope --
Good morning.”

-       Maya Angelou - ‘On the Pulse of Morning’