Why do we have to say negative things when people pass away?

I awoke to the news of the passing away of Maya Angelou. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I was never a big fan of hers (never against her either) and never read much of what she wrote, but I also had nothing against her, she just wasn't in the my realm of interest. And for that I feel that I will probably be sorry and playing catch up for the rest of my life. However, I do know she had a HUGE following and she touched many people. She could also rub many people the wrong way but isn't that always the case when someone feels strongly about a subject and speaks on it?

Anyway, most of what I have read of her and about her have been positive and glowing. She spoke of a situation and time (being black in American and the civil rights struggles) that to this day still stir up people's passions and guilt even. But she was honest in what she felt and wrote and that is all we can ask of anyone is honesty.

However, after seeing many reports and posts about her after her passing today, I am discouraged by some of what I have seen. While most is positive and affirming, there are also plenty of snide comments and innuendo about eccentricities and peculiarities she may or may not have had. Now, most of this is my fault for it comes from people and places that I frequent or had in the past anyway and I can't judge their intentions although I have my suspicions. I also won't single anyone or anyplace out, just that it disturbs me that we do this kind of stuff.

 We ALL have peculiarities and eccentricities that others may find strange or even alarming. That doesn't make us bad people, just human. And outside of being truly evil (such as Stalin, Hitler, the KKK, etc) to bring any of it up after one passes away just strikes me as wrong and misguided. Why can't we just celebrate the life the lived and their accomplishments. Remember how they touched us and spoke truth to us that we may not have faced otherwise?

Why do we have to bring up the negatives and make snide comments? I am not saying we should whitewash anything, or cover anything up but outside of something egregious, when a life has ended, we should focus on the positives and light they brought instead of the negatives. Bringing up the negatives does no one any good anyway, it just continues a cycle of hate and jealousy.

Now this may make me a "flaming heart" liberal, but is that such a bad thing at times? Maybe if we ALL had a little more heart we might find a little more peace in ourselves and the world. But then again maybe that is just a hopeless pipe dream. I choose to cling to the hopeless pipe dream.

RIP Ms. Angelou, the world has gone a little darker today with the passing of the light of your soul. It is up to the rest of us to shine a little brighter to make up for it.