Poet and USC Professor Nikky Finney Remembers Maya Angelou
“She taught me so much about telling the truth.”
As she prepared to attend Maya Angelou’s Saturday memorial service, Finney reflected on what the late writer’s life and work meant to her.
Finney met the Angelous 20 years ago when she performed as a warm-up act for one of Angelou’s lectures. She was the unknown poet and Angelou was the queen of poetry, Finney said. After the performance, Angelou invited her to dinner.
“It was a very unforgettable moment in my life as a young poet,” Finney says.
After Finney won the National Book Award in 2011, she was invited to be a guest on Angelou’s annual black history radio program. Finney was moved by her grace and her voice, Finney said.
“She had an incredible presence and such an elegant way about her, from her walk to her talk to her mind. And precise! She was a woman who would not compromise on the truth, and went seeking it in many different ways, and when she found it, she handed it over to us without compromise, which is why I believe she was so beloved.”
Despite the heartache in her past, Angelou maintained a sense of laughter and joy, Finney recalls. She taught readers and audiences that loving and embracing themselves, regardless of the reactions of others, was the way into the world. She was at once proudly African-American and passionately human, and she never compromised either one in her life or in her work, Finney said.
“I would love for students to remember her as a human being who, though she perhaps was afraid like we all are — being afraid is a human feeling — she never let fear stop her from living a full and amazing life.”
Angelou’s rich life story is a testament to that fearlessness, Finney said. Angelou was a dancer and singer early in her life, and she became the first African-American street car conductor in San Francisco. As a young woman, she traveled abroad and learned insatiably, and she later became a poet, author and activist. Angelou felt that she was supposed to be experiencing life at its fullest and approached the world with verve, Finney said.
“She taught me so much about telling the truth.”
Finney said she will never forget the time Angelou was preparing for an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The pianist scheduled to perform before the interview did not show up, and the organizers asked a young pianist in the audience to play instead. The young girl initially refused because she was nervous and modest. Then, Angelou approached her and said, “My dear, modesty is a lie”.
“She was a girl, raised like many of us in the South, taught to be humble and to remain in her place,” she said. “Angelou’s lesson to us was, do not be afraid to step into that moment, not with ego, but with humbleness — not modesty. And I send that out to male and female alike … do not be afraid to step into the moment.”
Angelou embraced and maintained connections to her Southern roots, but she also confronted the oppressive norms associated with the society in which she was raised.
“That is why people stood in line to hear her! Because she was a Southern lady, she was a Southern girl. But to hear somebody come home and say, excuse me? Modesty is a lie? Stand up in your life and your power and your brilliance? I mean, we just don’t hear that enough, and we need to hear it.”
Finney says that as the nation remembers Maya Angelou, those who understood her work should honor her legacy by continuing to spread the wisdom she left behind.
“We have to keep saying it. Keep saying it aloud, keep quoting Maya Angelou. Because the lessons are critical to girls and to children — to never allow anyone to draw a box for them to stand in, to say, ‘this is where you belong.’”
For Finney and for millions of readers, Angelou inspired feelings of pride, hope and joy.
“She was reminding us of our humanity because she was determined that the world would be better now than when she first got here.”
Finney said she is confident that Angelou left a permanent mark on the world, and she encourages students to continue to examine her life and words.
“I would love to see students Google her, find a quote that speaks to you, print it out, put it over your desk, put it in your journal book, tape it to your forehead and walk around with it,” Finney said. “I don’t know, whatever you do, do not let the great wisdom of Maya Angelou slip by you.”