Maya Angelou: A Source of Humanity
"I am human," Angelou said, "and nothing human can be alien to me" (Shafer).
Maya Angelou just may be the most "human" person in the world. Indeed, with all of the struggles she went through in her early life, her humanness increasingly deepened. Her life was characterized by the instability of her childhood and her family, along with the challenge of being a black woman growing up in 19th century America. The deepness of her humanness is evident in all of her writings, from her autobiographies to her poetry. Now a success today, Angelou's major themes are inspired by the dream of overcoming the struggles that were ever-present in her life.
Born April 4, 1928 in Saint Louis, Missouri, Maya
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When Angelou was about three years old, her parents, Bailey Johnson, a naval dietician, and Vivian Johnson, divorced, and Maya and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou claims that her grandmother, whom she called "momma, had a deep-brooding love that hung over everything she touched" (Burt). Growing up in Stamps, Angelou learned what it was like to be a black girl in a world whose boundaries were set by whites. She was conditioned to think that white girls had better lives than black girls. Despite the odds, her grandmother instilled pride and confidence in Angelou that would benefit her for years to come (Shafer).
After five years of being apart from their mother the children were sent back to St. Louis to be with her. This move eventually deeply scarred Angelou when she was raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of 8 (Burt). Following this incident and the rapist's threats, Maya was mute for nearly five years. She was sent back to Stamps to live with her grandmother because her mother could not deal with the grim state Angelou was in. With the constant help of a woman named Mrs. Flowers, who was a close friend of her grandmother, Angelou began to retrieve the pride and confidence she once had. Then in 1940, Maya and her brother were sent to San Francisco to live with their mother. But, yet again, life
Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri (1928) as Marguerite Johnson; however she grew up in Stamps, Arkansas where her grandmother ran a general store. Angelou has acted and written several plays, poems, and a six-part autobiography “I Know Why the caged Bird Sings” making her one of this country’s foremost black writers. In this story Angelou tells about how her grandmother (momma) triumphs over a pack of taunting neighborhood children. I feel very strongly about this particular piece given the time set and the way black people were treated by the whites, and how without harsh words or threats some black people overcame the taunting and cruelties of the whites.
Maya Angelou’s poetry occupies a very special position in her development as a writer (Chow 1). As a child, Angelou went through five years of complete silence after she was raped at the age of seven years old, by a man named, Mr. Freeman. As a result of telling about her traumatic experience, her uncle’s literally kicked the man that raped her to death. Beings she spoke of her traumatic experience and the result of the man dying, she then imagined that her voice had the potential to kill. Thanks to her teacher, Bertha Flowers, at school Angelou started writing poetry as a means of expression of her life events through her poetry (Chow 1). Poetry thus played an essential part in the recovery of her voice, which in
Maya Angelou, named at birth, Marguerite Johnson was on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her and her family moved from St. Louis to Stamps, Arkansas, where she was raised growing up. Maya Angelou was an American author, dancer, screenwriter, actress, poet and civil rights activist. Angelou gained a majority of her fame with the memoir she wrote in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This memoir made literary history as being the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. Angelou received many awards and honors throughout her entire career. These awards included two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009. Angelou became one of the most legendary and influential
Louis. The man who assaulted her was her mother boyfriend, who was later found dead. He was “kicked to death” the same night of the incident (Bloom 3). The incident concluded with five years of silence for Maya (Eller, 2). Maya’s rape incident was compared to the suffering of the African American community in the South during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Edward Eller, an assistant professor of English at Northeast Louisiana University writes that; “Just as the child had to give in to her rapist because she has no choice but to endure and survive, the blacks had no choice” (Eller, 2). The fight for Maya to fulfill her American Dream of finding a home, and being accepted into American society goes hand in hand with the fight for civil rights for the African American society. Eller states that Angelou’s voice through her literature showed African Americans that they could overcome racism and segregation; “Because Angelou shows us we can do more than endure. We can Triumph” (Eller, 2). Young Angelou along with the blacks in the South were looking for a place to call home, together they searched for a place where they belonged, were they fit in.
Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928. Her real name is Marguerite Johnson, but she later changed it to Maya. She was born in St. Louis, shortly after her birth her family up and move to Arkansaw. Maya grew up there in the rural parts of Arkansaw, and later married to a South African Freedom Fighter. She lived in Cairo with him, there she began her career as editor of the Arab Observer.
Maya Angelou is a leading literary voice of the African-American community. She writes of the triumph of the human spirit over hardship and adversity. “Her style captures the ca-dences and aspirations of African American women whose strength she celebrates.” (Library of Chattanooga State, n. d.) Maya has paved the way for children who has had a damaged
Maya’s younger years were filled with pain and tragedy. When she was only three years old, her parents separated, moving Maya and her brother into the home of their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. While growing up in this area, Angelou became aware of the discrimination and racism that was prevalent during this time in America. (Hyperlink.com) At the age of eight, Angelou was reinstated into the care of her mother. It was during this time period that Maya was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. Shortly after this incident occurred, Angelou became mute and would not speak again for five years. This time period in Maya Angelou’s life would
Maya Angelou was very brave. One of the things that makes her brave is being able to talk about being sexually abused. At the young age of seven, Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. This happened while she was briefly staying with her mother in St. Louis. For the rest of her life, she would have that memory in her brain, reminding her of such a traumatic experience. In 1970, Angelou had an autobiography that was on the New York Times’ bestseller
Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, is a writer,and she is known for many auto-biographical novels and she also writes poetry and essays. She also loved to study music, dance,and drama. From 1963 to 1966 Angelou was involved in the black civil rights movement. Maya Angelou wrote this specific poem called; “Phenomenal Women”. Angelou has a very creative way of saying things throughout her poem. Angelou talks about a woman in the poem that talks about herself a lot she repeats the phrase“ I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman that's me”( Angelou) therefore Angelou might be this person in her poem. Angelou is trying to show the reader that you need to have more confidence in your own person instead of worrying about others judgment.
The inspiring African-American woman born in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri has been one of the many influential voices of our time. Educating herself and having love for the arts helped mold her life into what she imagined becoming a poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and even a civil rights activist. During her early years while still in High School Dr. Angelou experienced brutal racial discrimination directing her to the values of traditional African-Americans.
Marguerite Johnson later known as Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Marguerite Johnson was raised in St. Louis, Missouri as well as Stamps, Arkansas. According to her website, Stamps at the time that she was raised, was the frontier of the South During the 1930s and 1940s when Johnson was growing up, Stamps ran rampant with racial discrimination and physical brutality. Marguerite was raised by her grandmother from 4 years old to 8 years old. Johnson came to live with her grandmother after her parents rocky marriage came to an end with a divorce. Her time with her grandmother was seen as a good part of her life but when her father came back into her life, everything that once was fine became bad. After Johnson’s father returned, she was sent to live with her mother. Marguerite’s mother had gotten a new lover named Freeman, while she was gone. Freeman was not a good man due to him sexually and physically abusing her. Johnson stayed silent about the abused but when she finally told someone about the abuse, it backfired on her due to the news spreading. Maya’s mother’s lover ended up getting in trouble for the pain he caused her. After going to trial for the abuse, he went to jail for an extremely short time. Upon being released, Freeman, was murdered. There is speculation that he was murdered by Maya’s uncles.
Maya was born on April 4,1928, in St. Louis, Mo and she was raised there as well.
In 1936, Maya and her brother traveled back to her mother in St. Louis, Missouri. During her visit, Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of eight("Encyclopedia of World Biography"). When she revealed what had happened, her uncles beat the man to death("Maya's Childhood and Youth"). Traumatized and shocked by the power of her words, Angelou became mute for the next five years(Moore). She was sent to Stamps once again due to no one being able to handle her state of condition. In Stamps, a female named Mrs. Flowers and her grandmother helped Angelou regain the confidence and pride she once had. Angelou and her brother went back to their mother again. As this was still difficult for her, Angelo ran away to live with her father
For every child being raised in the foster care system, nearly twenty five children are being cared for by grandparents, who supply their basic needs. Maya Angelou and Bailey Johnson are included in that group, because from a young age Momma, their grandmother, took care When it comes to making difficult decisions Momma always seem to make the right ones, including the choice to send her grandchildren to San Francisco. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , an autobiography by Maya Angelou writes that “In San Francisco, for the first time, perceived myself as part of something” (179). In this quote Maya Angelou describes her overall feelings on the topic of San Francisco and how it changed her life for the better. As a result of Momma choosing the correct path for Angelou and Bailey, they gained freedom, escaped a racist environment in Stamps, Arkansas, and were guaranteed a little bit more protection in San Francisco.
Maya Angelou describes what her life with her grandmother is like while constantly being discriminated against her race. She then found her father, and he leaves Maya and Bailey off to their mother’s house. There, the mother’s boyfriend rapes Maya. After suffering from psychological shock, Maya then moves back to her grandmother’s. As a teenager Maya gets nervous about her sexual identity and tries to discover it. Through these harsh times, the naïve and softhearted Maya grows to become a strong, independent woman.