Maya Angelou Angered Over MLK Memorial

Sep 01, 2011 | 1:57 PM Written By: Jessica T

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Celebrated poet Maya Angelou had qualms with the Washington memorial of Martin Luther King Jr., specifically the exerpt from one of his speeches.

The exerpt was taken from: 'If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.' But was wittled down to: 'I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.'

Angelou expressed her anger towards the memorial by saying 'The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit. It makes him seem less than the humanitarian he was. It makes him seem an egotist.'

Angelou served as a consultant for the memorial and is pushing for the quote to be changed. However, Ed Jackson Jr, the chief architect of the statue, defended the quote, saying was originally to appear in its entirety on the south side of the statue. When it was moved to the north side, there wasn't enough room.

Previous Comments

cchg 09/03/2011 10:06 am

she need to fuckin stop complaning dats why she got kidnaped on boondocks

hah 09/02/2011 7:11 am

Mann mothafuckers are never satisfied mann im done

Xavier 09/01/2011 3:32 pm

I think the whole quote was racist, they shouldnt have used it. what are they saying all black men play the drums in college so they can look at the statue like "i want to be like him one day" maaaan they should have just out the mans statue up, and used one of the famous qoutes that EVERYBODY knows...

simon REPLIED 09/01/2011 8:36 pm

smh yeah nigga you waaaaay off...

Shellz 09/01/2011 3:12 pm

Sorry. Meant to say *words you don't choose* lol butt hurts.

Shellz REPLIED 09/01/2011 3:11 pm

Plus the fact that she's a poet. And she would know before anyone that the words you choose count. The won't you don't choose matter. It matters how a sentence is arranged. What that says on there is completely not what he said.

dahsar 09/01/2011 2:29 pm

"I served as a consultant for the memorial and I'm upset it didn't go exactly as planned, a pretty understandable emotion" A GREAT example why we don't get anywhere... thanks Dcool..I would have never have observed such a subtle and profound anecdote to our culture. Thanks a lot for your wisdom.

Dcool 09/01/2011 2:23 pm

I hate to say this but .....Blacks are worse off now than ever. Upset over a quote ? A good example why we won't get anywhere. I'm just glad the man has a Washington memorial.

Lealvin REPLIED 09/01/2011 3:06 pm

I'm 24 and have studied this man for many years and that quote means a lot to u dcool as well as other blacks. Please I beg you and the other youth out there to understand that he means a lot more then the march , the I have a dream speech. He knew that the youth of today would have the challenges they have today back then so he took it upon his self to put his life his families life on the line for the worlds not only blacks but whites too. So before you comment realise that you wouldn't be able to walk into Walmart or where ever you shop nor walk down your street in your neighborhood without w quote such as that.

DJ Smirnoff! 09/01/2011 2:22 pm