Rachel Hollis Plagiarized Maya Angelou on Instagram

The #BlackLivesMatter movement is changing the standard of accountability for how situations like this need to be handled in the future.

In the midst of today’s social climate, I’ve committed to being extra conscious of the narratives I put out into the world right now.

I believe, most sincerely, that it’s time for the voices of POC, and in particular Black voices, to take centre stage after being silenced and disregarded for so long.

And I still stand by that foundational belief — I also know that complete silence can be synonymous to passivism, and that as an ally I recognize that this fight absolutely should not be falling entirely on the shoulders of POC, to take responsibility for making actionable changes for justice.

When we see injustice taking place, we must take action. That’s our duty as global citizens — to raise hell and raise our voices in the face of injustice.

I do so right now, not just by my own narrative as a White woman, but after listening to the critiques of POC and doing my part to help to get those particular points heard by more people.

Ah, Rachel Hollis — I already have my own bones to pick with her, as I’ve written about before.

But today, through reading and educating myself on the views of the Black community in concern with Hollis' problematic conduct, I hope that we can create deeper dialogue and opportunity for further education. We can do so through dissecting the deplorable nature of Hollis' passive attitude when it came to plagiarizing one of the greatest poetic voices and civil activists of our human history — Maya Angelou.

The original post read, “Still… I RISE”, alongside an inspirational photo.

And despite this being one of the most memorable quotes by Maya Angelou, no credit was given to her.

Rachel Hollis’ was essentially claiming these words as her own. Again.

Hollis deleted the post right away.

This was an immediate move she took the next day to cover her butt.

Her second move was to post an apology on Instagram. Her apology reads as follows:

“This morning I found out that my social team posted a graphic on my Instagram yesterday that said, “Still… I Rise”

That is, obviously, an immortal line from a Maya Angelou poem — only, no credit was given to her. I immediately deleted the post but I want to make sure and publicly apologize. While I didn’t create or post the graphic, I am the leader of the team that did and so I accept full responsibility for their actions. I can’t imagine how deeply hurtful it is to the African American community to see the words of your heroes used without credit. This has happened to you far too often and I hate — I literally HATE — that anything produced by my company added to your pain.

I heard once that the only real apology was one where you don’t make an excuse, and so I won’t. I am deeply sorry. I understand that this post without credit is not a little thing to you… this is death by a thousand cuts. This is the millionth type of incident like this you’ve experienced. This is not OK. I apologize, sincerely. We will do better.”— Rachel Hollis, via Instagram

Many found her apology lacking in any real authenticity, when she was casting blame on her social media team, prioritizing saving herself embarrassment, and first and foremost protecting her brand over taking a humble moment to learn.

Users were quick to comment on and critique the truly problematic nature of plagiarizing one of the most inspirational Black poets and activist figures in all of history. They didn't hold back, as they shouldn’t have:

“White female influencers: It’s not that hard to CITE BLACK WOMEN. Yes, in your writing, on your IG, in your pretty lettered quote graphics, on twitter, in your speeches. Stop pretending that our brilliance is your work. I’m too close to the edge to be nice.” — Austin Channing Brown

And for Maya Angelou’s work to be lessened and stolen by a privileged White woman with a multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand? Truly deplorable, and entirely indicative of exactly what the #BlackLivesMatter movement is trying to drill into the world’s head right now:

Black lives are NOT equal. Their art and hardwork and value in life is NOT recognized to the extent it should be, from a human rights perspective.

And that needs to f*cking change yesterday.

Black voices and educational moments were once again forcibly silenced.

While Hollis posted her apology via Instagram in response to the blatant ignorance of the plagiarizing post, she’s also being held accountable for how she handled the situation in the aftermath.

What she fails to appreciate is that she made another big mistake here — she further silenced the voices of POC who need to be heard right now, and destroyed valuable opportunity for education to take place, not just for Hollis but also for her followers who weren’t grasping the severity of the situation.

Ignorance was being addressed. Important conversations were being exchanged. Hard talks were taking place.

But to save herself further personal embarrassment, Hollis immediately deleted the post, thus deleting every single one of those important conversations.

That’s just another massive slap in the face for activists who are using the online space to create important and essential dialogue in a climate that needs it now more than ever.

Furthermore, users stated that they saw comments on the original plagiarizing post from POC being deleted, and entire accounts blocked that spoke out about the unacceptable and shameful nature of her plagiarism of Maya Angelou.

User tatiholmes said:

“Not only is plagiarism an issue here when your followers tried to educate you and inform you on how it made them feel you silenced their voices by deleting their comments and blocking them. Your women of color following was then so low that you felt like you then had to buy followers. You could’ve kept that fake apology. Stop shoving down our throat what your one black friend Brit thinks and tell us what YOU feel. Your silence is compliance and that’s the REAL problem.” — tatiholmes via Instagram

In a time where Hollis needed to suck it up and actually take the time to humbly listen to the conversations taking place as a result of her own ignorance and privilege, she instead took that opportunity to cover her own a** rather than appreciating a positive learning opportunity and dialogue for this movement was taking place.

With all of her influence, she still chose to try and protect her own dignity, at the expense of furthering the cause of justice and equality.

And frankly, I hope she’s deeply ashamed of her conduct — I know plenty of us are ashamed enough of her.

This is not her first plagiarizing rodeo.

The Instagram apology would have you believe, from Hollis' perspective, that this plagiarizing incident was a one-time misstep.

But don’t be fooled — she has a long track record with stealing the art and words of others.

The truth of the matter is, Hollis has been critiqued for years for blatantly plagiarizing the intellectual and creative property of her peers.

I wrote about this more in-depth in an article outlining my fall from grace as a big Rachel Hollis fan to a duped citizen who bought into her bullsh*t, but on Instagram, in her bestselling books, and in her keynote speeches she has been caught plagiarizing the work of inspirational figures for years and years.

And why has she gotten away with it for so long? Well, her being a rich, privileged White woman has plenty to do with that, you can rest assured.

She just knows that the spotlight is even brighter on her right now because she plagiarized one of the most influential, notable Black women ever during the middle of these history-making #BlackLivesMatter protests and movement.

If plagiarism wasn’t already considered the accepted norm in Hollis' company, this particular situation of stealing Maya Angelou’s words might not have ever happened to begin with.

If you see injustice, call it out. If you are not educated on a topic, learn about it. If you’re not sure you have the right words to say, listen.

There are an abundance of resources, and inspirational Black activists raising hell right now with amazing and powerful words we all need to hear and live by.

We just have to be f*cking willing to hear them and confront our own ignorance as an overall society.

And for f*cksake, if you’re going to take anything from this article — please do not be a passive participant in what is happening in the world.

Your allyship makes a difference.