An Ode to Maya Angelou

Everyone is a saint when they die. And heaven knows, some canonized do not merit the title. But some earthy souls who were our moral compass and innate spiritual leaders touched our lives in so many ways.

Maya Angelou was frank about her life: she was raped at a young age, her rapist jailed & then killed upon his release driving her to lose her voice for five years for the guilt she felt in singling him out for utilizing the gift we treasure that resulted in his execution.

She was of a generation of African-Americans that knew the ugly face of segregation all too well. She was the first female cable car driver in San Francisco and she admitted being a prostitute and pimp. She sang, acted and could move a room with her books, poetry and reading aloud ~ because she allowed her soul to be close to the surface and she validated its invaluable worth and saw beauty in all.

She was a staunch opponent to the faulty testing system that our children are over-bombarded with in today's U.S. educational system that do not impart critical thinking and social skills for healthy, lifelong interactions.

I feared this day. You will be missed, lady. May we make you proud that your time on this planet was not in vain and that we continue the fight that all are created equal and worthy of human respect, dignity and love. Your mission will continue as our muse, inspiration and light and we treasure that you graced our lives, universe and chose not to lose your voice to champion for all.

...love you, hermana!

JUSTICIA ~ Rutgers University students have spoken and their demands registered!

Serving for the past 17 years on the Advisory Board at Rutgers University's Center for Latino Arts & Culture, I am appalled that Condoleezza Rice was invited to deliver the 2014 Commencement Speech receiving a $35K fee and was to have been bestowed an honorary doctorate. Thank goodness for our youth protesting who have better sense than the University President, Bob Barchi. What possessed him? Have we no memory of what this person and her influence wrought throughout the world over the last 30 years? Not only in her role as U.S. Secretary of State and her complicity in supporting President Bush invading Iraq unnecessarily, but President Reagan, too.

I will never forget in the early ’80’s, when as a fluent Russian speaker, she approached President Reagan on the tarmac of a Washington airport as he awaited the arrival of the Russian Foreign Secretary and when Secret Service saw her coming their way, they tackled her to the ground. No one in that group could have imagined that a black woman would be the Russian translator to the President of the United States. She picked herself up off the floor, brushed her suit and stood stoically next to President Reagan. Yet she forgot this treatment when for years she toed the political line in a Republican-dominated White House that did nothing for the advancement of minority communities throughout the United States and reversed many of the gains made in decades past, especially through Supreme Court appointments and the dismantling of Affirmative Action -- not to even speak about foreign policy where we gained more enemies internationally.

An accomplished pianist, she has no political scruples. Not only does she currently sit on the Board of DropBox, she sat on the Board of an oil company that named an oil tanker after her (so that when she reached the highest levels of politics as Secretary of State she had the name removed due to any potential political backlash).

There are no shortage of black women to honor and Rutgers could have looked no further than Anita Hill who is befitting of an honor of this magnitude, fee and doctorate; while inspiring youth, faculty and supporting audience with her pearls of wisdom and dignity in what would have been a stellar Commencement speech. Now that’s a role model, an advocate for women -- especially young women -- and a refined lady. If adults in administration are going to suffer from selective memory loss, thank goodness for our youth -- students -- the future generation who demand and embrace talent, who genuinely respect those who champion truth behind all their actions and recognize sacrifices endured in truly making the world a better place for all their brothers and sisters.