Maya Angelou on CBC News Sunday

January 13, 2008

Worth watching: this interview with Dr. Maya Angelou that aired on tonight’s CBC News Sunday. A few key quotes:

When asked how she was able to make the distinction between race and gender in politics (which she thinks is irrelevant):

“I’m an intelligent person. I don’t have to follow what is done by other people. I have intelligence, and so I act intelligently.”

When asked whether Oprah Winfrey had asked her why she chose to support Hillary Clinton’s candidacy:

“She knows me. She knows I have a reason.”

When asked whether Oprah had asked her to justify her own political choice:

“Of course not. She knows I have a reason.”

When asked how she would answer critics who claimed she was betraying the African American community by choosing to support Clinton:

“I’m going to do what I think is right. I will do it because I have the courage to do so. Without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”

She ends the interview by reciting an excerpt from “Still I Rise.”

(I still think Evan Solomon’s a twerp, but for the most part he did well in this interview.)