the last 2 comments... WTF?! the numbskulls... their troops are multiplying.

There are always going to be people like that. I think sometimes they're just trolls.

no, i do understand not having heard of her. but do the idiots really have to strut about and show off their stupidity & ignorance like that? there are trolls & then there are these kinda ppl.

that's just an abridged version of the post ... there was so much more. it all just made me go gahhh.

I had heard of her but didn't know much about her. I think my sister read something by her. And yeah seems the idiot brigade are expanding all the time

For those not very familiar with her, I recommend the autobiography of her early years "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". I find it very powerful and beautifully written.

I think I know what you mean, Tansie, and it's the last two comments you noted—not all the previous people who didn't know who she was—that stand out for me, too.

It's not a matter of being unfamiliar, it's a matter of those who make light of their own ignorance through flippant comments or jokes, as if being expected to know anyone outside their frame of reference is

itself ignorant (e.g., They don't play her on my radio station and she's not on TV? Then why would I care?). I came across people like that when Nelson Mandela died, too.

LettePonnier: yes, exactly. it's the flippant attitude & the pride in being ignorant that gets to me. there was more in that post later, but those 2 really stood out. i guess i can only smh & ignore the idiots

I'm not sure I can understand ANYONE not knowing who Nelson Mandela is, but I CAN understand people outside the U.S. not knowing Maya Angelou. I don't know every actress/singer/writer/professor from other

countries. But bragging about it, or being flippant is stupid.

yeah, not knowing Mandela is just... i don't have words. moronic bragging seems to be on the rise.

The two people who didn't know who Mandela was were both in their 20s and far right-wing. I would guess it's a combination of their youth and political upbringing that contributed to that.