News:

SMF - Just Installed!

Main Menu

Dr. Maya Angelou

Started by Maya, Jun 03, 2014, 08:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Maya

As you all know this was & still is an amazing lady.

I am honored to use her name as my stage name(Thank You Jean for suggesting the name)


Found this article and wanted to share with all of you.

Enjoy!

http://titsandsass.com/the-erasure-of-maya-angelou/

If the link doesn't work... I did my best to copy n paste the article.

Dr. Maya Angelou, American Poet Laureate, most famous for authoring I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, passed away at age 86 on May 28th, 2014. Her literary agent Helen Brann confirmed the news to press, and thus began a worldwide outpouring of grief. The top trending tag on Twitter was "RIP Maya Angelou" and, at the time of this writing, it is one of four Maya Angelou-related trending hashtags. She is hailed as a national best selling author, a genius, a spiritual God-, Grand-, and mother. She is lauded as everything Black women should aspire to emulate in life. So why is it very few of us know she was a sex worker in her youth? Why is it, even in her death, as in her life, it's such a guarded secret? Why was this secret kept by seemingly everyone except Dr. Angelou herself?

We can, once again, boil it down to respectability politics and stigma. I am angry about it. I find myself ruminating, considering, wondering: If her work had been talked about as much as her dancing with James Baldwin or even her considerable, commanding and lovely height of six feet, what would the sex work community look like today? If we had talked about her wonderful compassion for sex workers, how she never looked down on them, and her refusal to be intimidated by invasive and obnoxious questioning about her sex working past, what would sex workers around the world be saying today in memory of her life?

Instead, we read post after post, obituary after tribute, calling her a "pimp" and saying she had "an unsuccessful stint as a prostitute." The most detailed accounts currently online are making sure to emphasize that she spent a "brief stint," a "short time" in the sex industry, so as to, without explicit words, solidify the shame they believe she should have felt, the shame we should feel as well. The media uses inflammatory terms to get clicks and to emphasize the terrible and shameful secret that was, in actuality, never a secret at all.

Dr. Angelou herself says she was never ashamed.


I wrote about my experiences because I thought too many people tell young folks, "I never did anything wrong. Who, Moi? – never I. I have no skeletons in my closet. In fact, I have no closet." They lie like that and then young people find themselves in situations and they think, "Damn I must be a pretty bad guy. My mom or dad never did anything wrong." They can't forgive themselves and go on with their lives. So I wrote the book Gather Together in My Name [about her past as a sex worker]. [source]

In interviews, Dr. Angelou used the term "prostitute" to refer to her previous employment without rancor or shame. She spoke candidly to her family about it. She told her mother, brother, and son she would redact the information from the book, but only if they were uncomfortable with it. She had no issue whatsoever with speaking her truth. So why do we not know about it, save for hushed whispers and the occasional salacious reference in reports about and interviews of her? What's so wrong with our beloved and lovely Maya Angelou having been a sex worker and brothel manager?

Go read this book now if you haven't already!
Go read this book now if you haven't already!
Respectability politics no doubt play a role in the erasure of her history as a sex worker. With a wide brush, details on it have been painted over by those who won't acknowledge such a thing, brushing past it to talk about her awards and accolades. But she had no problem stating plainly: "There are many ways to prostitute one's self."

It comes to this: there is no way, in the minds of most people, to have worked as a prostitute and not be ashamed of it. Most people believe there is no way to have held this job (and it is a job), move onto other things, and not consider it a "seamy life" or "shameful secret." To most people, there is no way a woman of Maya Angelou's caliber could ever have performed as a sex worker. The idea just won't gel for them, but that doesn't mean it's not the truth. Maya Angelou: Poet Laureate, Pulitzer nominee, Tony Award winner, best selling author, poetess, winner of more than 50 honorary degrees, mother, sister, daughter, wife, National Medal of Arts winner, Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, consummate and powerful woman, artist, and former sex worker. Yes, the woman you love, the woman we all love, the incomparable Dr. Maya Angelou was a sex worker and she proved, in her life and her stories, that there's nothing wrong with it.

To quote her:

Now you understand
just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
the need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
(Phenomenal Woman)

Indeed, we are proud of you, Dr. Angelou. Thank you for everything you've so shamelessly shared with us, for your truth needs no shame and deserves acknowledgment, acceptance, and a warm, loving embrace. Words can never express my gratitude to you and my grief at your death. Thank you.

Gus

Thank you for sharing, Maya. This is a wonderful tribute to a great lady.
Gus
The most important words in life are "Yes!"and"Wow!" and "Thank You."

Maya

Quote from: Gus on Jun 04, 2014, 02:25 AM
Thank you for sharing, Maya. This is a wonderful tribute to a great lady.
Gus

Thank You for reading Gus!

I loved the article & had to share :)

tobyg3

I've read her books, and some of her poetry, and her essays, as well as seen her interviews when they're on. I have a great admiration for her, and knowing her past doesn't change that. Her time to leave may have come too early, but I am glad to have been on this earth while she was here. Thanks for the thoughts and feelings, Maya (both of you).

Silverado

Great post Maya. Right up there with Victoria's post on why I do what I do.

Shayne

Tears in my eyes..
Thank you Maya. I am one (of many), I'm sure, that had no idea what her history included..
What a beautiful tribute to a truly phenomenal woman.
Xoxo Shayne:)

Maya

Quote from: tobyg3 on Jun 04, 2014, 07:35 AM
I've read her books, and some of her poetry, and her essays, as well as seen her interviews when they're on. I have a great admiration for her, and knowing her past doesn't change that. Her time to leave may have come too early, but I am glad to have been on this earth while she was here. Thanks for the thoughts and feelings, Maya (both of you).

You are very welcome Toby! Its a great article & thought it would be enjoyed by most.


Maya

Quote from: Silverado on Jun 04, 2014, 10:21 AM
Great post Maya. Right up there with Victoria's post on why I do what I do.
[/quote

Thanks Silverado!
Glad you enjoyed the article.

:)

Maya

Quote from: Shayne on Jun 04, 2014, 12:39 PM
Tears in my eyes..
Thank you Maya. I am one (of many), I'm sure, that had no idea what her history included..
What a beautiful tribute to a truly phenomenal woman.


Shayne, I totally teared up as well. When I read the article I realized that all amazing women have an interesting past & that even though society might frown upon it, many like us will appreciate her even more. Our pasts don't define us, it just makes us stronger :)

Phoenix

She is the ultimate appidiomy of females everywhere in every way an inspiration God embrace you with all his positive blessing Dr. Maya Angelou and Godbless you Our Maya for posting this for us to embrace  :-*    There is a science in dangerous beauty where the courtesan defends our honor in a spiritual way also check it out you will luv it :-* it sounds/ feels like something the Dr. Would say

Maya

Quote from: Phoenix on Jun 16, 2014, 05:27 PM
She is the ultimate appidiomy of females everywhere in every way an inspiration God embrace you with all his positive blessing Dr. Maya Angelou and Godbless you Our Maya for posting this for us to embrace  :-*    There is a science in dangerous beauty where the courtesan defends our honor in a spiritual way also check it out you will luv it :-* it sounds/ feels like something the Dr. Would say


Thanks PheePhee!