Many saw my sister-friend Maitefa Angaza as a scribe only. I saw her as the consummate artist.
She appreciated and was committed to the arts and artists and, in my view, she became both artist and art.
Her form of inner artist was reflected in her taste in clothing. She carefully coordinated the colors of her fabric. Everything she wore was designed by a person of color, including her famous hats. But I loved the way she would make something new from what she already had in her wardrobe. She could make it more than its original life. That intrigued me. She would take a dress and make it more interesting. She was humble, quietly self-confident but not a pushover.
But that was outerwear. It was not just what she put on her body, it was what came from her, what she carried inside.
It was the words she spoke, how she spoke them. It was the way she moved, although she never considered herself a dancer.
She was a good speaker, too. It was how she lived her life.
She always encouraged those around her. When I needed advice and counsel, she gave it.
When I saw her at the hospital, even in her illness she exuded peaceful energy and quiet strength, and in the nearly five decades I knew her since girlhood years.
years, she was always the same way. In later years, she was a very good mother, wife, and grandmother.
I admired how she nurtured her husband during his illness.
She saw the artist in everyone and she supported talented people. She was spiritual, not judgmental, and that gift could be seen in all of her writings. Her articles were always interesting because she knew the right questions to ask. She remembered what people said to her.
She saw the value in everyone. It was unconditional love. If she wanted to show her gratitude or respect for someone, she would put it in writing and tell their story, then surprise them with her gift when the story came out. And her words were not empty praises. There was power in her words. She was a scholar, constantly researching, learning as much about her subjects as she could, taking notes.
We were always looking for her articles. Her public identity and popularity grew because of her writings.
She was respected so much for her craft and her gift.
She always advised if you have an intuition to do something positive, go ahead and do it.
She believed in love opening doors, but she also believed in loving yourself first.
She confronted her African self very early in life. She did not learn it. She was born into it. Part of her Beauty was that she was in touch with her African self. She self-identified with her roots, and she included her culture in everything she did. She was immersed in her Africanness. I still feel her energy. She always had a special way of seeing things and making people feel good.
Maitefa was a work of art.
- by Ariaa Talabi
Osunbola Daniel Vilson