I told myself that I wasn’t going to write anything about Maya Angelou, but I was so vexed in my soul that I had to speak on it.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that too many Jesus-loving-church-going black women idolize Maya Angelou in ways that our good Word, Jesus, cautioned us not to. They place wealthy celebrities like her on a pedestal, but will over-scrutinize and ridicule an everyday woman for similar transgressions. It’s horrible that many Black women will follow any celebrity, not even caring if they are being taken on a path away from Jesus, and onto paths where they encounter reckless sex, feminism or lesbianism.

Too many look at Maya Angelou as a prolific goddess and spiritual leader, in light of her diluting the power and authority of the name of Jesus. While Maya loosely dabbled in Christianity, it was simply for motivational sake only and nothing more. She placed Christianity in equal footing with Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and other world religions, and saw no difference between all of those belief systems. Through her writings, Maya Angelou has led and continues to lead many Black women down the ‘broad’ way that leads away from God.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” — Matthew 7:13-14

In light of this Bible scripture, I have to ask, “Can a Caged Bird Really Sing?”

What sweet melody did Maya Angelou sing? To whom did she serenade? I hate to tell you, but she very publically serenaded the broad road, the road that leads away from God. The Bible gives us a clue in John 15:19:

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

I ask my Christian ladies, why do you idolize a woman that the world idolizes? Why do we idolize a woman that fought against poignant Biblical principles?

What message are we sending to our young girls when we idolize women like Maya?

We are sending a clear message stating: Unless you have a ratchet-broken past, you aren’t praiseworthy. Consequently, many young girls may feel the need to ‘create’ turmoil to overcome, because they realize that in the Black Community you aren’t praiseworthy unless you’ve been victimized by men emotionally, physically or mentally.

Have you noticed, even in light of all of these seemingly ‘powerful’ black women, very few of them are able to maintain successful marriages, and they tend to marginalize and showcase Black men in the most unfavorable light?

While we have these token success stories from famous black women, where is the common black woman’s success story? Why is the everyday black woman struggling for a clear sense of identity when we’ve had 30 years of these powerful Black women, like Maya Angelou, leading us?

I’m curious: Why don’t we model ourselves after women who don’t have traumatic pasts? Why don’t we instead model ourselves after successful women like Condoleezza Rice (former United States Secretary of State), who has a healthy and culturally-rich childhood and adult life? Or even Gwendolyn Brooks, famous Pulitzer Prize winning poet, who also had a healthy childhood and adult life?

When Maya Angelou’s death was announced, I noticed an overwhelming outpouring from women posting quotes and images of her online, calling her a phenomenal woman. And I couldn’t help but wonder: If she didn’t have such a horrible jaded past would she be so popular? If she espoused marriage, motherhood and hardcore Christian values, would she be so popular?

Now, I knew she was an acclaimed poet and author, but I had to figure out what I missed that so many found worth celebrating. I knew she rubbed elbows with famous performers from the Harlem Renaissance and mingled with elite political leaders. But who was she really…?

My research led me to discover a different face of Maya Angelou that many Black women don’t know about, and if they did know wouldn’t eagerly celebrate. What I learned about her revealed that people will often create a myth about a person, just to fit their own personal truth.

I discovered what I believe is the REAL reason why she was praised and worshipped so much, particularly among Black women. In her, many black women with similar dysfunctional backgrounds found a kindred spirit.

My intention is not to discredit the many talents she embodied. And indeed, she had many. My intention is to: show the hypocritical nature of the false ‘black sisterhood’ that exists today, the sub-culture of the feminist movement, and why I don’t follow the hordes when they tell me I should celebrate a person.

Below, I have listed the most profound ‘overlooked’ points about Maya Angelou, along with commentary. Some of what you are about to read may be shocking:

• Maya Angelou’s own mother was responsible for the conditions that resulted in her being molested and raped at the age of 8. Interesting to note, that Maya was raped by her mother’s live-in boyfriend. According to interviews she gave, Maya suffered from nightmares as a child. So her mother eventually let Maya sleep in the bed that she shared with her current live-in boyfriend. The mother’s boyfriend took advantage of these opportunities and began touching the child inappropriately, often while her mother was lying in bed with them. Maya also stated that the first incident of full blown molestation occurred when she was left sleeping alone in the bed with her mother’s boyfriend. He continued to molest her for weeks, until one night her mother decided not to come home at all. That’s when the molestation gave way to rape.
• Maya Angelou admitted that she initially enjoyed the molestation. Her molester’s embrace felt welcoming to the young girl who longed for her mother’s love and affection. She confused his predatory behavior with the physical attention she wanted and needed from her parents.
• Maya Angelou also dabbled in lesbianism as she grew older. Feeling awkward about her height and physical appearance, she struggled with her sexual identity, and ended up in several questionable and sketchy relationships with other women throughout her life.
• Maya Angelou was a Madam, which is basically a female pimp. She even had her very own stable of lesbian prostitutes. To make ends meet she often worked as a prostitute herself. She profited off of women selling their bodies to other women, purchasing a car and other luxuries from the proceeds.
• Maya Angelou endorsed the gay and lesbian movement. She was the Keynote Speaker at the 1996 GALA Festival in Tampa. Her speech opens with the following words: “I am gay…I am lesbian. I am black. I am white. I am Native American. I am Christian. I am Jew. I am Muslim.” Noticeably missing from the list are the words “I am straight.”

In light of all of these points, I do admire Maya Angelou for being determined to make something out of her life, for turning her pain into accomplishment, and moving beyond the horrid molestation and rape from her past. Despite her mother’s many failings, she grew to become a woman that loved her mother very much. And instead of remaining a negative statistic, she became one of the world’s most renowned poets and authors, with a one-of-a-kind personality. And it is for these reasons why I believe Black women can look at her as an example that it is possible to rise above certain types of potentially hindering circumstances. But her life itself, with all the hazardous twists and turns is NOT one to be emulated.

I can’t help but wonder if she ever truly healed from her tumultuous past, and if her methods to heal are the most healthy to mimic? She seems to have created this nebulous concept of self-healing through the exploration of all facets of sexuality. But one cannot really heal from past pain through engaging in the negative behavior caused by childhood molestation, rape and trauma. Not to mention this whole concept of self-healing is nothing more than new age doctrine and demonic philosophy dressed up and made pretty.

Maya Angelou at the root of her existence was a woman that struggled with sexual promiscuity, lesbianism, and many broken relationships: including three marriages. When I think of her legacy, I don’t think of healing. I think of her as a woman who helped spearhead the Black Lesbian Feminist Movement. She never spoke against the leading social ills of the black community: Feminism, Lesbianism, and Homosexuality. She in fact encouraged it.

Here’s my issue: I’m not sure if anyone noticed that the image of the Black woman is severely less than what it was during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. With all the iconic Black women rights’ activists, nothing has improved. Life for Black women just gets worse and worse under the guidance of our most iconic Black female leaders: Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Melissa Harris-Perry, Gayle King, Beyoncé, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison. In light of all the Feminist Movement accomplishments, there is an increase in broken families, more abortions, along with more and more accounts of Black women abusing, neglecting and killing their own children.

As Christian women, we must be careful of following people who blatantly don’t follow Jesus Christ. We have to measure everything against God’s Word. And let that be our standard; not the popular opinion of the world.

Be informed and don’t follow aimlessly…

—-Thank you for reading my article! You may view its original posting at: https://www.edendecoded.com/blog-2/item/caged-bird-maya

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Sources cited:
Maya Angelou: A Critical Companion — Page 83 — Google Books, View source

Maya Angelou’s I Know why the Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook — Google Books, View source

SONGBIRD: Maya Angelou takes another look at herself, View source

Saint Maya, View source

Spark Notes: I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS, View source

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Summary and Analysis, View source

Maya Angelou, Dead at 86, View source