The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 105: Just What the Doctor Ordered

Episode Date: July 24, 2018

This doctor believed it was a right that came with the PhD.

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This is the way I heard it. The doctor believed a person had a right to be called whatever they wanted to be called. It was a simple belief she repeated aloud many times over the course of her long and remarkable life, a belief that served her well, even before she became a doctor. As a little girl in Arkansas, traumatized by an unspeakable act of violence, the doctor, who was not yet a doctor, refused to be called a victim, even though she'd been molested at just seven years of age, she preferred to be called a survivor. And so she was, because a person had a right to be called, whatever they wanted to be called.

Years later, after she regained her ability to speak, the survivor worked as a pimp in San Diego and then a prostitute. She wasn't exactly proud of her new profession, but nor was she ashamed. And so the doctor, who was not yet a doctor, used her real name. Marguerite and made sure her clients remembered it because a person had a right to be called whatever they wanted to be called. In San Francisco, when Marguerite went looking for honest work, she applied for a job that no woman had ever done before. They laughed at her, said she was uppity. Marguerite ignored all that because she wanted to be called a streetcar conductor, which is exactly what she became. The first black,

female streetcar conductor in America. Why? Because the doctor, who was not yet a doctor, believed a person had a right to be called whatever they wanted to be called. But of course, that little glimpse of blue-collar fame paled next to her many scholarly achievements. In 1975, Marguerite acquired a PhD from Smith College. Other degrees would follow, and soon she accepted a professorship at Wake Forest University. In time, the poor kid from Arkansas became a best-selling author, fluent in five languages. Along the way, she wrote poetry and plays. She got herself nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony.

She also won five Grammy Awards. Funny thing, though, in spite of her remarkable voice, she was rarely introduced as a singer because the survivor, who used to be called Marguerite, still believed a person had a right to be. be called whatever they wanted, and what she wanted to be called was Doctor. And so she was. On Twitter, she amended her handle to include the title of Doctor, and her millions of fans addressed her accordingly, as did the faculty at Wake Forest, and all those who introduced her at formal gatherings from that day forward, which is why you can find her name on no less than 30 medical institutions all over the country. When she died, on May 28, 2014, Wake Forest released a statement

that read, quote, The Doctor was a national treasure whose life and teachings inspired millions of people all over the world. As word of her passing spread, reporters and journalists began to write eulogies and tributes, recalling with great affection the famous doctor who rose from abject poverty to serve at the pleasure of both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. The same doctor whose tireless commitment to civil rights earned her countless awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award a civilian can receive. The outpouring of affection was well earned,

but in the rush to celebrate this remarkable woman, the media overlooked something. They overlooked the fact that the doctor wasn't really a doctor. sure she had a PhD, 50 of them, in fact, many from America's most prestigious universities, but all of her doctorate degrees were honorary. The fact is, Wake Forest's most famous professor was not only not a doctor, she wasn't even a college graduate. Obviously, this is not a scandal.

Lots of brilliant thinkers never graduate college, and lots of famous trophy collectors, have honorary degrees hanging in their dens. Mike Tyson has one. So does Yoko Ono and P. Diddy, Oprah Winfrey, and Alec Baldwin. Even Kermit the Frog was awarded an honorary PhD from Hampton College back in 1996. But of course, responsible journalists don't write about the latest movie from Dr. Alec Baldwin or the latest album from Dr. P. Diddy.

doing so would be disrespectful to the people who have actually earned the title. And yet, just a few hours after her death, social media and cable news were flooded with headlines about the death of a famous doctor who had done absolutely nothing to earn the title. When asked to explain why they deliberately described their most esteemed professor as something they knew she wasn't, Wake Forest issued a brief statement that read, quote, because that's what the doctor wished to be called. Maybe one day we'll all get to be remembered by the titles we choose for ourselves. Maybe trade schools will start handing out honorary certifications for people who want to be remembered as plumbers and electricians. Maybe the army will start awarding honorary bronze stars to people who

want to be remembered as heroes. Maybe when everyone in the country gets an honorary PhD, we can all rest easy, secure in the knowledge that a doctor is always in the house. Regardless, her desire to be called something she wasn't doesn't change the person she was. A little girl called Marguerite, who grew up to become America's first black female streetcar conductor, a beloved writer who told us why the caged bird sings. A poet, a pimp, a prostitute, and a survivor who preferred to be called a doctor, and was, thanks to a university and a press corps that was willing to do just what the doctor ordered. An honorary doctor named Maya Angelou. Anyway, that's the way I heard it.

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