RIP Dr. Maya Angelou, Former Sex Worker

NEW YORK CITY—The New York Times, which did a nearly full-page obituary for poetess, multiple-academic-degree holder and author of the "landmark book" I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Dr. Maya Angelou, describes her early careers as "dancer, calypso singer, streetcar conductor, single mother, magazine editor in Cairo, administrative assistant in Ghana, official of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and friend or associate of some of the most eminent black Americans of the mid-20th century, including James Baldwin, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X." It also notes that she was "a Tony-nominated stage actress; college professor (she was for many years the Reynolds professor of American studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem); ubiquitous presence on the lecture circuit; frequent guest on television shows from Oprah to Sesame Street; and subject of a string of scholarly studies." But readers had to skip down 16 more paragraphs to find the single phrase, "Elsewhere, she described her short-lived stints as a prostitute and a madam." Actually, according to Tits and Sass blogger (and former sex worker) Peechington Marie, Angelou wasn't ashamed of her time as a sex worker; in fact, she wrote about it in her autobiographical work, Gather Together in My Name. "I wrote about my experiences because I thought too many people tell young folks, 'I never did anything wrong. Who, Moi?—never I. I have no skeletons in my closet. In fact, I have no closet,'" Angelou said in an interview. "They lie like that and then young people find themselves in situations and they think, 'Damn I must be a pretty bad guy. My mom or dad never did anything wrong.' They can’t forgive themselves and go on with their lives." Because of that book, Angelou continued, "all those grown people, all those adults, all those parents and grandparents and teachers and preachers and rabbis and priests who lie to the children can gather together in my name and I will tell them the truth. Wherever you are, you have got to admit it and set about to make a change. That’s why I wrote that book. It’s the most painful book I’ve ever written." Even Cliff Notes, the small yellow-and-black paperback synopses of famous literary works, let its readers know of that part of Angelou's life in the biography section of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. "For the remainder of the 1940s [that is, 1945-'49], to support her child, Angelou moved about California and took a variety of jobs—dancing in night clubs, cooking at a Creole cafe, removing paint at a dent and body shop, and serving as madam and sometime prostitute at a San Diego brothel. Terrified of arrest for her illegal activities, she hastily returned to Stamps, [AR, her hometown] then Louisville, where the army accepted, then ousted her because of her connection with the California Labor School, which was sponsored by the Communist Party. In the interim, she eased the pain of rejection with marijuana and a new career hoofing to Blue Flame and Caravan as one half of the exotic dance duo of 'Poole and Rita.' More short-term jobs followed, including fry cook in Stockton and a second short stint in prostitution." Marie's thesis is that because so many people in modern society think of sex work as something shameful that its reality must be buried deep lest it subject the worker to slut-shaming in her (or even his) later years, the media have essentially conspired to hide (or at least greatly minimize) that part of Angelou's life. "It comes to this: there is no way, in the minds of most people, to have worked as a prostitute and not be ashamed of it," Marie stated. "Most people believe there is no way to have held this job (and it is a job), move on to other things, and not consider it a 'seamy life' or 'shameful secret.' To most people, there is no way a woman of Maya Angelou’s caliber could ever have performed as a sex worker. The idea just won't gel for them, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the truth." Truer words... Pictured: Maya Angelou and partner in the 1940s.