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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Scribe711 (talk | contribs) at 16:35, 2 February 2009. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Angelou's mutism

In the on-going improvement of this article, I've been looking at the references and trying to find more reliable sources. I understand that university newspaper articles aren't as reliable as sources like The New York Times, but for the time being, I'd like to retain the Daily Nexus ref because it has that great quote about Angelou's mutism. Of course, if this gets in the way of this article's eventual GA or FA status, it should be (reluctantly) removed. The best next choice is the following, which I suggest should replace it if or/when it becomes necessary:

Horrified that her words had caused anyone's death, Maya withdrew into a silence that the Baxters were incapable of handling. She and Bailey were returned to Annie Henderson and the community of Stamps, where for five years Maya remained mute. She was finally released from the burden of speechlessness in 1940, through her study of literature and the guidance by a woman from Stamps named Mrs. Flowers.[1] --Figureskatingfan (talk) 21:52, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Two new sections

I have added two new sections, "Writing style" and "Themes in Angelou's autobiographies", in the interest of the improvement of this article, and to make it more like the articles of other writers. I used my second sandbox to draft the new sections and then cut-and-pasted them into the article. I hope that this has brought it closer to GA and FA status. I believe that it's still far away from it, however; it needs more research in order to expand the bio section. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 22:10, 12 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Die vs. Diiie

As far as I can tell, the title of the book was Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie, with three I's, not Die. That's the way the phrase is spelled in her poem "No No No No", at any rate. - Montréalais (talk) 04:49, 17 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It depends upon where it's listed. Some of the entries on Amazon spell the word with one "i", and some do not. MA's webpage spells it as you do. Personally, it doesn't matter much to me. I'm willing to go with what she says. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 06:01, 17 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Gray lock

Why we semi-protect this. Have popel been making racist commnets.--Freewayguy Msg USC 21:57, 20 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Works of Maya Angelou

I've suggested that the "Work of Maya Angelou" be split from the main article and made into its own list. At ~130 lines, the length of the list in this article is a major interruption between prose sections above and below this section. In my opinion, it would be best to have this section imitate the "Honors and awards" section immediately below it or include just a selected bibliography. As an example, please see Works of William Gibson. --Millbrooky (talk) 15:13, 30 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I kinda thought that's what you were gonna say. ;) Things are a little busy for me now, and I'm working on another article, but I'll try to get to this in a few days. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 16:11, 30 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It took a little longer than a few days, but I have finally created this article. It needs some work, though, along with the summary section here. I also think some re-structuring needs to be done, like moving the Awards and honors section to the end of the article. I will get to that, probably sooner than I was able to accomplish this task. Thanks to Millbrooky; I think it does significantly improve this article. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 07:17, 17 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Clothes" hoax

I have removed this section and folded the content, with some copyediting, into the "Later career" section. I have done this because I don't think the information is important enough to warrant a separate section. However, controversy about Dr. Angelou should be included; as the article is improved and expanded, it will most likely be placed elsewhere. I'm not sure that Snopes.com is a reliable source, and I'm not committed to finding a better one at this time. I also suspect that its inclusion is part of a bias and agenda, which is why I removed the specific allegations of the poem. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 15:46, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What bias or agenda are you talking about? You suspect a pro-Angelou bias? And Snopes is a fine source, AFAIK. IronDuke 16:45, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I just looked at this article's edit history: the section was removed on Feb. 12 by a vandal/unknown IP. Of course, there was no edit summary, and since this article is usually heavily vandalized (just wait for school to start in a couple of weeks), it was overlooked. To be honest, its removal wasn't a big deal to me, since I've never thought it was a crucial piece of information and adds very little to its quality. It was reinserted on July 29 by you, ID. So why did you do that, anyway?
All that to say that both the inclusion and deletion of this content is suspect. I believe that my solution is a good compromise. Regarding Snopes: Its reliability has been discussed before. My interpretation of the discussion is that Snopes tends to be reliable, but it should be supported by additional sources. This article does that by citing MA's webpage. I believe that it needs another source just to be sure. Of course, the time that I've spent responding could have been spent looking for it. What the heck, I'll go ahead and do it tonight; I'm just watching the Olympics, anyway. ;) --Figureskatingfan (talk) 05:48, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
"All that to say that both the inclusion and deletion of this content is suspect." I'm confused by that statement. Can you clarify it? Also, don't know why information was removed from the statement. Thanks for help with sources... IronDuke 15:44, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, so I looked at the edit history, and found that it was you, ID, who added the content originally, way back on 2007-04-08. It looks like it was deleted by a vandal, and was never corrected, so I take back what I've said. It seems that its deletion was suspect, and its inclusion was done by good faith. However, I'm not sure it's notable enough to include, but I'll wait for others to chime in, probably when and/or if this article is reviewed. BTW, I wasn't able to find any additional reliable sources. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 04:09, 17 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

maya is a good person —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.9.25.24 (talk) 16:51, 2 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Her prostitution background

Angelou explicitly states in her own book ``Gather Together in My Name`` that she worked as a prostitute and was a whorehouse madam, why is this rather startling history being supressed from her entry?? When I added this true account from Angelou herself..her own book, to this wiki article it was deleted and supressed.

Would you happen to have a page number for verification? I don't think anyone is trying to suppress the info - just following protocol by removing info until it has a direct source. XF Law talk at me 23:31, 22 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As the person who's become the main editor of this article, I'm a little insulted at the charge that this information was "suppressed" (sic). If you look at the last paragraph of the Early years section (under Biography), you'll see that it states that Dr. Angelou held numerous jobs during this time. I made an editorial choice to not list all of her occupations, since this particular occupation is no more (or less) important than say, being a fry cook or a dancer. If you read Gather Together in My Name, an article I created and which is linked in the above-mentioned paragraph, it's very clear that she was a prostitute. There's even a well-documented statement by Dr. Angelou regarding her reluctance to be honest about it, and how her husband encouraged her to write about it. Sorry, but there's no conspiracy here. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 00:25, 23 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The IP has every right to make an 'editorial choice' to add the list of occupations. It's often that a biography will contain specifics about an occupation, especially when it's an illegal endeavor. It should simply be sourced. I understand how your time and effort on this article can lead to feelings getting ruffled, but answering the question as ' the main editor' is sure to discourage newcomers. XF Law talk at me 00:39, 23 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Well, then, the IP has every right to reinsert them if he/she chooses. Just as I have the integrity to not suppress any other editor's additions, I also have the integrity to not revert a good-faith edit, even if I disagree with it. Let any future reviewers decide, I say, although I suspect that they'd agree with my position. I apologize, I do tend to get proprietary with my pet articles; I just can't help it. I suppose I should've said, "As the only editor who seems to have worked on this article other than the heavy vandalism-protection it, for some reason, regularly requires..." But that would've been TOO LONG! ;) But like I said, let the IP at it! --Figureskatingfan (talk) 05:19, 23 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just a comment on the idea that being a prostitute is the same as being a fry cook or a dancer. To many people, this may be the case. However, being a prostitute is illegal in almost every jurisdiction in the United States, so comparing it with other (legal) occupations in anywhere but Nevada is akin to comparing, say, insider trading to regular stock trading or giving stock advice, or selling alcohol to a 22-year-old vs. a 20-year-old. Law enforcement agencies will not look at them as the same thing.--Gloriamarie (talk) 16:32, 21 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Man, was I cranky when I responded to this issue back on Oct.! I apologize for that. Thinking about it, I think that there are two possible solutions. We can go ahead and add "prostitute" to Dr. Angelou's list of occupations. There's nothing shameful about this fact; Dr. Angelou has freely admitted it. A better solution, at least for me, is to include the information in other Angelou-articles (such as the above-mentioned Gather Together in My Name) about her hesitation to write about it and her husband's encouragement to be honest about it. I'd go ahead and do it, but in addition to being busy IRL, I also have some other WP-projects (including the beginning of the FAC process for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) I'm focusing my time on.
This article is in need of some major improvements. In a perfect world, it should've been FA (or at the very least, GA) before Dr. Angelou's birthday last April, but that didn't happen. In my mind, the bio section is most lacking. It has holes big enough to drive a mac truck through. Closing those holes for me requires that an editor become more knowledgeable about her life, and the best way to do that is to read all six of her autobiographies. I've read the first two myself, and have written an article about her second one. Up to now, I've been the only editor working on this article. Eventually, I'd like to see a Maya Angelou featured topic, but before that happens, I need to complete the other four books. (I'm assuming that's me, since I'm the only game in town.) If anyone else wants to take over those tasks (including following my above suggestions), feel free. One of the most annoying things about WP is that other editors will insist on things and expect other editors to follow through. If ya think something needs to be done, knock yerself out, kiddo! In other words, be part of the solution, not part of the problem! --Figureskatingfan (talk) 06:12, 23 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Maya Angelou in Madea's Family Reunion: The Movie

{{editsemiprotected}} In Maya Angelou's wikipedia page, shouldn't the fact that she had a part in Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion: The Movie?

Well, there is a section of this article, "Works", that summarizes Dr. Angelou's accomplishments, as per this discussion on the talk page. Also, in the article, Works of Maya Angelou, which lists them out, the movie is mentioned. You ask a good question, and I hope my answer satisfies you. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 04:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think the current situation's about right - the main article is already very long, and she's done a lot of things. I don't see anything particularly special about Madea's Family Reunion that means it needs to go in the summary in the main article; it does just fine in the separate Works article.

Wired for Books audio interviews

Unfortunetly for Wikipedia users, Figureskatingfan has repeatedly erased the external link to the Wired for Books audio interview of Maya Angelou, which can be found at http://wiredforbooks.org/mayaangelou/ It is a very nice interview, available both in RealAudio and also as an mp3 download. The Don Swaim collection of CBS Radio interviews are found only at Wired for Books at Ohio University and the original, uncut interviews were never broadcast by CBS Radio. Compounding the damage, Figureskatingfan has apparently encouraged other editors to label our Wired for Books interviews as "spam" and "vandalism." I seems that these people have not made a minimal effort to determine the quality of the source material. If anyone is interested in literature in general, as well as May Angelou in particular, please check out Wired for Books at http://wiredforbooks.org . Perhaps it is the abundance of material that we have, nearly 700 interviews in the Don Swaim collection alone, that makes the links look like spam. In any case, if you think that the audio interviews should be included in Wikipedia, please contact Figureskatingfan and also, Anthony.Bradbury , who has also been erasing our work.

Thanks for your help with this. Write to me a kurz@ohio.edu or scribe711 at Wikipedia if you would like more information or simply to show support for adding the content to Wikipedia.

David Kurz Ohio University kurz@ohio.edu scribe711 Scribe711 (talk) 16:35, 2 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

  1. ^ Lupton, Mary Jane (1998). Maya Angelou: A critical companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-313-30325-8.
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