Westboro to Picket Maya Angelou's Funeral? I Say Yes

It was with no surprise that I read reports that the Westboro Church have been calling for its members to picket the funeral of Dr. Maya Angelou.

Shocking? Yes. But here is my humble recommendation. Let them come.

This might be the closest many members of that Westboro family will be to grace. For some, this is the closest they will ever have been to true dignity.

Dr. Angelou is one of the few people on God’s planet who could have soothed such troubled souls. She is likely the only one who could have broken through the barriers of anger and hatred.

Who better to remind them of our common humanity? Who better to remind them of the beauty they abandon when they embrace bitterness and hatred? Dr. Angelou never begrudged anyone the feeling of anger. When pointed in the right direction, anger over true injustice can force change and move mountains of ignorance.

Who better to teach members of the church of hate than a woman who rose from what could, at best, be called difficulty? By the standards of many of the same people who now sit in judgment of the Westboro group, Maya Angelou was not supposed to ever amount to much. Her poise and persistence tamed them. Now their children honor her.

Their words, their signs, their hatred are a small beacon in the presence of the illuminating sunlight that still emanates from Dr. Angelou's memory. Nothing but the absence of humanity will erase the impact that Dr. Angelou has had on thousands upon thousands.

Let them come. Let them fight the windmills. Let them scream like the aimless army they have become. Meaningless screams do not equal a voice. It equals noise.

I may not have the honor or privilege to attend a memorial service to Dr. Angelou, but her words and her memory lift me up.

Let them come. I realize the risk is not to Dr. Angelou, but to the mourners who were so deeply touched by her work and her spirit. While we sometimes falter and allow words to cut deeply, Dr. Angelou’s passing reminds us that dignity and love are their own armor.

In her passing, we’re all fortunate now to feel her presence. Westboro cannot touch me. They cannot touch us.

Let them come, I say.

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” Dr. Maya Angelou.