I first met Maya Angelou over 27 years ago when she became a client of the High Point, N.C.-based public relations firm where I worked in my early days. I served as her publicist for several years, during which time I enjoyed the honor and privilege of travelling the country with her extensively. In the course of spending time together, we developed a close bond of friendship that remained intact until the time she died.
Maya Angelou was a towering figure in the civil rights era, a literary giant, and, in recent years, an elder states-woman among the current generation of world leaders. As Poet Laureate of the United States, she spoke eloquently and movingly about a land inhabited once by dinosaurs whose brittle bones became the foundation of the inclusive nation and society that we now inhabit. Angelou’s wise message was one of inclusiveness and transcendence. She did not shy away from the controversies of our nation’s founding moments. She confronted them head on, and yet found a way to weave them into a call to unity and purpose.
Maya Angelou’s endorsement, more than any other, made it possible for Southern senators to vote in favor of the 1991 Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas, virtually assuring his ultimate transcendence. Her impeccable credentials as a freedom crier, a cultural icon and a pan-Africanist (in the broadest sense), gave her endorsement a gravitas that distinguished it from the mainstream black political leadership at the time. But it was also her relationships with black conservatives like myself that provided her with insight into Thomas’ possible motivations and loyalties.
I last visited with Maya Angelou at her home May 9, 2014, a few weeks before she passed. In an interview with me for American CurrentSee magazine, she discussed her evolving “practice” of becoming a person. Chief among those self-improvement projects was learning to forgive. “I've learned that forgiving is one of the greatest gifts that I can give myself, when I forgive other people,” she said. “I let them go. I free them from my ignorance. And as soon as I do, I feel lighter, brighter, and better.” Maya Angelou, with all of her achievements, her accolades, her life experience, nonetheless gained ultimate joy from harvesting these nuggets of insight and introspection.
As we stood in her sculpture garden that lovely afternoon, she seemed so full of life. She was excited about the annual 4th of July white party she would be hosting in the summer. She made Xavier Underwood, my social media director, and me promise we would attend. I remember kidding with my friend and famed neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, who was with us, that he would miss out on all the fun because of a planned trip to New Zealand.
He turned to me in his wistful, quiet way and, without any trace of affectation in his voice, said: “Armstrong, I will not be in attendance at the party. And neither will you – or she.” He went on to explain that all his years of practicing medicine had trained him to sense when a person is nearing the end. He explained that she would likely die within a few weeks. I was still no less shocked and saddened when, true to Carson’s prediction, she passed away less than a month later.
Armstrong Williams is manager and owner of Howard Stirk Holdings, LLC and executive editor of American CurrentSee magazine.
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Maya Angelou’s endorsement, more than any other, made it possible for Southern senators to vote in favor of the 1991 Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas, virtually assuring his ultimate transcendence.”
- Armstrong Williams