I was suddenly staring my duality in the face. Because of Maya Angelou’s words, maybe I didn’t have to be either that dirty, nasty, fast girl or the perfect little Catholic girl. Maybe I could just be a Black Queen like all of the conscious hip-hop songs said I was. Even if I didn’t believe it all the time, Maya Angelou had given me a model for how to step out into the world and make them believe it.
