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Maya Angelou Slams MLK Memorial: Makes Him Look Like an ‘Arrogant Twit’

Sep. 1, 2011 1:49pm Madeleine Morgenstern

The disputed Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial inscription: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.’’ (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press)

Legendary poet and author Maya Angelou is not happy about the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Specifically, she thinks the inscription carved into the side of the 30-foot-tall granite statue makes the late civil rights leader look “arrogant.”

The inscription, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” paraphrases a sermon King delivered in 1968, two months before his assassination:

“If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

The memorial’s designers wanted to incorporate the quote into the statue, which depicts King standing with his arms folded as if he’s emerging from the stone. According to the Washington Post, a design change forced them to paraphrase the quote instead of using it in full.

Maya Angelou, 83, said this week the inscription on the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial makes King look like an "arrogant twit." (AP File Photo)

Angelou, one of the memorial’s consultants, said the resulting shorter inscription is misleading and ought to be changed.

“The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit,” Angelous, 83, told the Post Tuesday. “He was anything but that. He was far too profound a man for that four-letter word to apply.”

The memorial was scheduled for an official dedication this past weekend, the 48th anniversary of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but the event was postponed due to Hurricane Irene.

“He had no arrogance at all,” Angelou said. “He had a humility that comes from deep inside. The ‘if’ clause that is left out is salient. Leaving it out changes the meaning completely.”

In its current form, she said, the inscription makes King seem like an “egotist.”

“He would never have said that of himself. He said ‘you’ might say it,” she added.

According to the Post, when Angelou was told the shortened version was used so it would fit the statue, she replied, “Too bad.”

Ed Jackson Jr., the memorial’s executive architect, told the Post the full drum major quote was originally intended for the statue’s south face, the first one for visitors to see as they approach. Instead, they decided they preferred another inscription, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope” for that spot instead, and informed the sculptor.

When they told the sculptor, Lei Yixin, he said the quote would have to be paraphrased because the north face of the statue had already been prepared for the shorter inscription.

“We said, ‘…We’ve only got this much space [on the north face], what are we going to put up there?’” Jackson told the Post.

“We sincerely felt passionate that the man’s own eulogy should be expressed on the stone,” he said. “We said the least we could do was define who he was based on his perception of himself: ‘I was a drum major for this, this and this.’”

He said they told the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, which was overseeing the project, about the situation and “They didn’t have a problem with it.”

“Now, did I ask Maya Angelou?” he said. “No.”

The inscription dust-up is only the latest controversy regarding King memorial, which has been in the works for more than a decade. Others have complained about the fact that the sculptor Yixin is Chinese, not American, and that King’s facial expression does not portray his “peaceful nature.”

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Comments (163)

Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:06pm
She is neither legendary, nor a poet, IMO.

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- Highland
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:24pm
  Nor relevant.
  
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- myway
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 4:05pm
  One word “COAL” is a better use of energy.
  
  Report this comment
- Down2TheC
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 5:07pm
  She’s right though. As with all things gov’t tries to do, they’ve botched this big in many ways. And really… pyramids went up quicker than this memorial. 10yrs? Lame.
  
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- Conservative_Independent
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 5:16pm
  So is Maya’s comment a “racist” one?
  
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- RepubliCorp
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 5:17pm
  when will there be one for Obama?
  
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- TXPilot
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 5:27pm
  Uh oh Maya, criticizing anything about MLK makes you a racist…..Of course, many things will make you a racist these days, such as being a Tea Party Member, not being a global warming believer, being in the same room as a Christian, buying products made in the USA…….and probably soon, even breathing air that hasnt been consecrated first, by passing through the rectum of a devoted radical, such as Al Gore, Obama or Nancy Pelosi.
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 6:55pm
  I don’t like to “drum major” phrase either. But, I’m more upset that it was made in China, by a Chinese citizen, out of Chinese stone and probably paid for with money we borrowed from China and are now paying interest on.
  Has anyone looked at the statue closely for Chinese writing? I wouldn’t put it past those arrogant communist.
  
  Report this comment
- HappyStretchedThin
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 9:10pm
  Angelou sits on the board, but wasn’t asked because she didn’t attend the meetings. She missed her chance for input, and has no one to blame but herself. Of course she never does, which is evident in her poetry too.
  That is a SUPER tacky paraphrase (hey the-monk, you think they could have put the whole quote up there if it was in Chinese pinyin script?), so I actually agree with her that it doesn’t do justice to the man.
  Interesting thing though: now those of us who don’t like the inscription are OBLIGED to read the content of the character of the statue despite its exterior. Hmm…
  
  Report this comment
- darkrage000
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 9:31pm
  RepubliCorp
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 5:17pm
  
  when will there be one for Obama?
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  What would you put on it…
  I was the architect of the End of Democracy.
  
  The Left would scream at the top of their lungs.. the TRUTH could never be a part of history!
  
  Report this comment
- KICKILLEGALSOUT
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 11:13pm
  She is worried about that? What about the fact that the memorial was made in China by Communist Chinese, used Chinese materials and was put together with Chinese labor? That’s right, a civil rights statue by Communist China, no wonder Obama is so proud of it.
  
  Report this comment
- givemelibertyorgivemedeath
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 11:22pm
  You guys are funny–thanks for the giggle! ;)
  
  Report this comment
- mharry860
  Posted on September 2, 2011 at 1:08am
  REPUBLICORP, probably tomorrow.
  
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- teamarcheson
  Posted on September 2, 2011 at 10:08am
  No where on planet earth could they find one black person who could sculpture a statue of MLK. They had to go to Communist China and find a Chinese. Not one black could be found anywhere. This is an ugly disgrace to black people everywhere and should be smashed to pieces. Blacks should be ashamed of this image.
  
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JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:04pm
The statue presents a distorted view of Dr. King. Personally, I do not like it one bit.

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- uncleherbert
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:13pm
  I do not like it. Not the man Dr. King was!
  
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- Xkiller
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 7:44pm
  Niether do I, it makes him look arrogent. This is not the first monument in DC to misquote a famous speech. While I have not seen it, I’m told the the line “So help us God…” from the speech FDR gave in response to the Pearl Harbour attack to congress was left of the WWII memorial. Why????don’t want to uipset someone? Horse crap…It’s history!!! But to be PC they will change it because the prenciples are no longer around to defend against it.
  
  Report this comment
- MOLLYPITCHER
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 8:12pm
  @justanotheropinion
  I agree with you. I don’t like it and it it a terrible depiction.
  
  Report this comment
- darkrage000
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 9:32pm
  Wait a minute!
  What are we doing here!?!?!
  Giving respect to Dr Martil Luther King Jr?!
  
  But..
  But…
  But.. were supposed to be racists, arent we!??
  
  Report this comment
- GeorgieJo
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 11:23pm
  MAYA?
  It was carved by a CHINESE guy.
  YOU expected MORE?
  
  WHAT world do you LIVE in?
  
  Report this comment
- Patrick in AZ
  Posted on September 2, 2011 at 1:16am
  @GeorgieJo – I suppose she should be happy that it is spelled correctly and in proper English
  
  Report this comment
whatisay
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:03pm
“Uncross those arms.” -Judge Judy

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:11pm
  I have to agree with you on that; the artist here who made this is clearly trying to portray MLK as a arrogant, hypocritical man; in truth he was a godly man, with mortal flaws as all of us have, and took a stand to correct wrongs that needed fixing in our nations fabric. He paid the final and ultimate price for his beliefs and efforts, and now the administration has made him into something else.
  
  By the way, this sculptor of the statue, is he not a member of the Chinese Communist Party?
  
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- Mayday
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:53pm
  It seems the arms communicate resistance, which was a part of his stature but not the full dimension of what the man represents then and now.
  Was the Chinese sculptor the only artist considered for this project?
  
  Report this comment
NOMOBIGDRAMANOBAMA
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:00pm
@Jinny Lind,
The rhyming racists of doom, Al and Jesse, knew him too and they have made a living desecating his memory and words while stirring the racism pot to keep their own pockets full ever since, shame on them. Now, someone explain how donated money was wasted on this project which looks like it was run by the rhyming racists of doom? Are they going to need TARP funds to replace this, or what?

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- chazman
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:35pm
  … I think they need a TARP to cover it up!
  
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spirited
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:58pm
Bernice King saying, “Daddy is standing”
also made Martin Luther King sound like an arrogant twit.

>Can’t believe that Maya Angelou said “twit”, not to mention –after “arrogant”.

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- myway
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 4:04pm
  Obama don’t want us to use coal anymore or they would have made this a proper likeness. Paint it black.
  
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Marylou7
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:53pm
Dr. King was a humble and good man who wanted equal justice NOT social justice. This statue is terrible. It looks more like Obama than Dr. King. IMO it should be totally redone to let the love in his heart shine through and this time use an artist that understands Dr. King.

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- Want our country back
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:58pm
  This isn’t the MLK that the world grew to love and respect…. don’t care for the visual of this statue.
  
  Report this comment
- ProbIemSoIver
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:09pm
  Looks like the Artist had A.D.D.
  Looks like he moved on to another project before he finished !!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Mil-Dot
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 4:39pm
  I don’t have a problem with MLK or anything like that but he was not a god. He had multiple affairs behind his wife’s back. He was not infallible. I don’t like the statue either. I think a full 360 degree statue of the man would have been better. The crossed arms signify that he is not open to the viewpoint of others, just like it means in body language today. It has not changed since his time. When you are talking to somebody, and they cross their arms, it means that they do not agee with you and do not like or trust you.
  
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circleDwagons
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:52pm
i did not know that mlk was a white asian twit , thanks

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- Da Kingfish
  Posted on September 2, 2011 at 2:45am
  RepubliCorp, obumbler has his likeness, it’s a dog turd at the reflecting pool.
  
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MBA
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:52pm
First off, I hope whoever hired this poor excuse of a sculpter can get their money back. It doesn’t look like MLK at all. And, thank you Ms. Anglou for telling the truth. If anything, MLK would have his arms open to encompass all people, not judging as the sculptor has portrayed him. How unfortunate that the progressives felt that MLK’s history couldn’t stand on its own without their interpretation.

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- Da Kingfish
  Posted on September 2, 2011 at 2:50am
  How about having the King family return the $800,000 just to use one of his ramblings the taxpayers got extorted out of, dumb ass politicians.
  
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JoeNY
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:48pm
Well, what did you expect?!? You hired a Chinese sculptor whom is well known for Mao statues, and had a group of people “consult” with him. Obviously the consultants didn’t have much say in the statist statue, did they? So now stands MLK, looking like a pissed off parent with their arms crossed, a paraphrased quote in the side, and Americans will get a very slanted perspective of the great man. Maybe next time you should consider hiring a US sculptor and a real guiding committee….. maybe even some US labor to build it. Shovel ready enough for you??

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Gonzo
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:48pm
That picture of Maya looks like she’s in a wind tunnel or experiencing G-force.

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sWampy
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:46pm
That is almost a perfect description of him, left out socialists, lying, low life.

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operagost
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:41pm
It appears the carbonite freezing process was a success. The Reverend King should be well preserved.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:40pm
Hey…he was an arrogant twit. Just like obama…..the chinese guy got it right….lol.

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Gonzo
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:33pm
Maya, you’re looking at the Obama statue, MLK is over there!

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- Thatsitivehadenough
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:36pm
  What else would one expect of a statue created by a CHINESE sculptor (NOT Chinese-American). This really takes the cake. I hope it gets torn down and replaced by one sculpted by an AMERICAN.
  
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- 13th Imam
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:39pm
  A Chinese made statue of MLK ,,Which makes him look Chinese, and white. Perhaps a Kenyan sculptor should have used obsidian as the medium. (for you in Rio Linda or a DEMOCRAT , obsidian is a black volcanic silica glass rock.)
  
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stinkybisquit
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:25pm
An overly dramatic, self-aggrandising poet (poet being redundant to the rest) would definitely know what an arrogant twit looks like. And this is coming from an arrogant twit.

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AZ Prosecutor
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:21pm
I have a dream . . . that she goes away!

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davida61
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:21pm
These people are always bitching about something. MLK is so overrated. He was a socialist.

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DanWesson455
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:13pm
Waaaaa, it’s not right. Too bad. We have caved and catered so much to this class of people. Look at the memorials in Washington. To Presidents. Founders of our Country. To our dead soldiers. Oh, and one Preacher from Atlanta?
I guess when Jesse Jerkston and Al Sharptoon pass on they should get their marble in Washington to.

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- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:19pm
  They will. Jesse will get a cats-eye on I-295 and Sharpton gets an aggie at the corner of E. Street and 9th.
  
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JLGunner
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:12pm
He wasn’t a arrongant twit, he was a womaniser.

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- teddrunk
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:03pm
  Yes he was…but remember…..so was JFK and you’re immediately an icon if you’re assassinated no matter what you did before
  
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- Mil-Dot
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 4:42pm
  Gunner and Ted
  You are both exactly right.
  
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LibertyMama
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:09pm
I don’t like any of it… it looks like he’s being pulled backward into the stone, not emerging from it. And the quote does sound arrogant and ridiculous. Too many great quotes they could have used.

If their outsourcing was racially motivated, then they got the monument they deserve… but not the one he deserved.

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- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:40pm
  Well said.
  
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- Mil-Dot
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 4:47pm
  They could have simply put “I have a dream……” (dots included, just like that) on it, and thats it. That is all that needed be said. But no, some idiot had to get involved and screw it up.
  
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Grace1798
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:02pm
These Anti-Americans are bringing about DIVISION, something MLK would never have tolerated! That was NOT his message at all. His message was about Uniting this country together as ONE in Christ, One in God and One as a Nation! How is it they forgot that OR is it they never really Listened to him? I listened to him and as a result, he encouraged me to work harder and become a better person.

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Elena2010
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:00pm
That’s what you get when you outsource to China.

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- Dustoff
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:40pm
  Odd, why no-one is talking about, how much the MLK family for this. Sick….
  
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- Better Dead Than Red
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 2:41pm
  my thoughts exactly!!
  
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- rose-ellen
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:43pm
  Martin luther king junior was groveling at the foot of his white masters. NO HUMAN BEING ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH EVER NEEDED TO BE TOLD BY ANOTHER HUMAN BEING THAT A PERSON SHOULD BE JUDGED BY THEIR CHARACTER AND NOT BY THEIR SKIN COLOR. For him to to ask be at the table of brotherhood and not to be judged by his skin color is begging people who had CHOSEN to exploit people [slavery and jim crow] and to RATIONALIZE explotation based on skin color [racial divisions].Using race to validate explotation was simple malice on the part of whites;MLK is inauthentic in buying into that narrative of race [again any one coming face to face with a black person recognized instantly that they were human-to therefore use race as a rational for slavery was simply a malicious construct to rationalize human exxplotation.] Mlk played into that malice when he begs the whites to overlook his skin color-like not treating blacks as humans was simply an honest mistake.His mentality was therefore one of an uncle tom currying favor by beggig the white man to please see his humanity [as if they honestly didn't.].
  
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- dontbotherme
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 5:00pm
  rose-ellen : race baiter.
  
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CrazyTexan
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 1:59pm
MLK said so many profound and good things, I think they could have picked some better ones to memorialize.

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- Vechorik
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 3:03pm
  “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” (10 December 1964, Oslo, Norway)
  “It is not enough to say “We must not wage war.” It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace.” (24 December 1967, Atlanta, GA)
  “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” (25 February 1967, Los Angeles, CA)
  “Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.” (4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York, NY)
  “We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs “down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (5 December 1955, Montgomery, AL)
  “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.” (16 April 1963, Birmingham, AL)
  “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” (16 April 1963, Birmingham, AL)
  
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- WatchOutForTheRINOShills
  Posted on September 1, 2011 at 7:02pm
  @CrazyTexan and Vechorik, I couldn’t agree more.
  
  “When they told the sculptor, Lei Yixin, he said the quote would have to be paraphrased because the north face of the statue had already been prepared for the shorter inscription.”
  
  Look at the picture, there are multiple areas where they could have put the quotes that you listed.
  
  Idiots, we’re surrounded by idiots…
  
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Jenny Lind
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 1:57pm
I have had the pleasure of watching her story, and while I sometimes disagree with her politically, I respect her and much that she has to say. She knew MLK and if she thinks that, I will not argue with her. She has a great gift with words and she is honest. I thought I was the only one who didn’t think it did him justice, It looks like I’m in good company.

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intothelight
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 1:56pm
……in the eye of the beholder?

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