Maya Angelou not happy with MLK paraphrased quote!
by AC Stone
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posted Nov 2 2011 1:36PM
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*Poet and author Maya Angelou is not happy with a paraphrased quote from Martin Luther King Jr. inscribed in his new memorial in Washington, saying the shortened version makes him sound like an “arrogant twit” because it’s out of context, reports the Washington Post.
The words were from a sermon King delivered Feb. 4, 1968, at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, two months before he was assassinated, about a eulogy that could be given when he died.
King said, “Yes, 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.”
On Tuesday, Angelou, who consulted on the memorial, told The Post King would have never said of himself that he was a drum major, Angelou said, but rather that others might say that of him.
“He had a humility that comes from deep inside,” Angelou told newspaper. “The ‘if’ clause that is left out is salient. Leaving it out changes the meaning completely.”
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