Maya Angelou And Still I Rise Essay

After she stops speaking, Angelou and her brother are sent back to Stamps. Here, she begins to see the solace that many blacks feel in their resignation and acceptance of prejudice and racism. She writes, "They showed me a contentment based on the belief that nothing more was coming to them, although a great deal more was due. Their decision to be satisfied with life's inequities was a lesson for me" (Angelou 86). Angelou learned this lesson, but never quite became satisfied with life's inequities; thankfully, she retained some of her rage regarding inequalities between white and black, which give great depth and emotion to her writing and her life.

Angelou did many important things during her lifetime. One that marked her life was working for Martin Luther King and Malcolm X as a civil rights activist. She became a spokesperson for African Americans and women around the country. Another thing that led Angelou to fame was President’s Bill Clinton invitation to participate in his inaugural. She wrote and recited the first inaugural poem for his presidency. She read On the Pulse of Morning, and Americans across the country were able to witness this special moment in time. This poem expressed the need for peace, social justice, equality as well as racial and religious harmony for all people despite their race, gender, origin or sexual orientations. Her poem was

Oppressed women have been unjustly held back from achieving full equality for much of human history. A woman no matter neither color nor education faces discrimination on a day to day basis. Barriers that are place in their way to advancing includes: lack of mentoring, lack of opportunities for career development, biased rating and testing system and counterproductive behavior and harassment by colleges (Schaefer, pg 15). In the past, women did not have jobs and were to clean, cook and care for the children, also did not have the right to vote. While the man work long hours to provide for his family and gave orders as the women followed. As time went on and rights were given to women, the men did not like the idea that controlled was being lost. They refused to let women become equal to males. Women are allow to work the same career as males, but will never be paid the same as males. This paper addresses Maya Angelou life and how her writing and public speaking inspired women to overcome discrimination.

Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” written in 1978, acknowledges the racism and segregation during the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, although no longer slaves, the African Americans have been given little rights and opportunity in America. Maya Angelou wrote this poem to prove to other American citizens that she is unfazed by their hate, while she strengthens her people’s motive to reach equality. Angelou utilizes metaphor, imagery and repetition to reveal how proud she is of her minority’s strength.

Maya Angelou used her celebrity platform to raise awareness on equal rights for everyone. She proved this by being a civil rights activist. She fought for the end of racism, sexism, and even same sex marriage. In 1988, Maya Angelou spoke about the importance of coming out at the second annual Human Rights Campaign. In her speech Angelou said, "When we have enough courage to come out – I don’t mean just out of the closet, I mean out of your spirit – when you have enough courage to stand and say, ‘I came here to say,’ it’s amazing. You have no idea who you will inform.” She also personally called New York State Senator Shirley Huntley to voice her support of same-sex marriage. During the call she said, “To love someone takes a lot of courage, so how much more is one challenged when the love is of the same sex and the laws say, ‘I forbid you from loving this person’?” Shirley Huntley greatly opposed same sex marriage but after the conversation with Angelou she changed her stance and ended

"The honorary duty of a human being is to love, and love I will," Maya Angelou said, quoting from her work. (Source card #3)      Maya Angelou gave hope to the hopeless and inspiration to the world. Through her poems and stories she has made us realize the role we play, or rather need to start playing. She made a lot of people get up off there butts and do something about the decaying world which lies around us. Maya Angelou has given me alone, hope that I can make a difference in our slowly dying world.

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 Angelou, the current poet laureate of the United States, has become for many people an exemplary role model. She read an original poem at the inauguration of President Clinton; she has also appeared on the television show "Touched by an Angel," and there read another poem of her own composition; she lectures widely, inspiring young people to aim high in life. Yet this is an unlikely beginning for a woman who, by the age of thirty, had been San Francisco's first black streetcar conductor; an unmarried mother; the madam of a San Diego brothel; a prostitute, a showgirl, and an actress (Lichtler, 861927397.html). Her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings argues persuasively

“You have tried to destroy me and although I perish daily I shall not be moved,” (Angelou, 2014), says Maya Angelou in her Commencement speech to the 1992 Spelman College graduates. Poet and award-winning author, Maya Angelou, is most well known for her poetry, essay collection, and memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou happened to be the first black female cable car conductor who later started a career in theatre and music (Maya Angelou: Poet and Historian, n.d.). Once her acting and musical career began to take off, Angelou began touring with productions and released her first album Miss Calypso (Maya Angelou Fast Facts, 2017). Later, Angelou earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away and an Emmy Award nomination for the work she performed in the television mini-series Roots (Maya Angelou: Poet, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Activist, 2017). Angelou was also the first African American woman to have her screenplay produced (Maya Angelou: Poet, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Activist, 2017). Out of the number of poetry collections Angelou published, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die happened to be her most famous collection that was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize (Maya Angelou: Poet, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Activist, 2017). The focus of this paper is to critique Angelou’s credibility, sincerity, and appeal to her whole audience in her delivery during the Spelman Commencement Address in 1992.

Maya Angelou, an African-American woman, wrote the poem, “Still I Rise,” in 1978 when racism was still prominent. Maya Angelou was reaching out to a racist community to prove oppression will not bring her down. Angelou brings up topics of what she and every other African-American person has to endure when living in their communities, and how they feel. She also brings up topics of oppression and marginalization throughout this speech to state that she will continue to rise up above it. Maya Angelou utilizes rhetorical questions, hateful diction, as well as, similes and metaphors to prove to others that she, and other African-American’s will rise against the racism and oppression they face.

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.

In American history, racial inequality has been a prevalent issue for many decades. By the 1930s racial inequality and segregation was still as strong as ever. There was a racial hierarchy with white people at the top and black people near the bottom. White people would discriminate against black people. The two groups never worked alongside each other or mixed in any fashion. To help understand this time period, segregation was still present until the mid 1950s, when the Supreme Court ruled segregation in schools unconstitutional. During this time full of racism and racial inequality, Maya Angelou was just a little girl growing up in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis is a town in the South that was most likely overflowing with inequalities at the time. In 1938 Maya Angelou was only ten years old. At this age, she worked for a lady named Mrs. Viola Cullinan. Maya Angelou wrote briefly about her time spent working for Mrs. Cullinan in her short story “Mary.” Maya Angelou's’ use of vivid, direct characterization and alternating childish voice to mature adult narrative diction filtered through her authentic first person point of view helps to prominently establish the theme of Angelou’s distaste for racial inequality throughout the short story.

The fact that African-Americans were prejudiced and treated in an ill manner stands as a well-accepted historical statement, but the injured emotions, identity and cultural heritage of them are often neglected. is an autobiography of Maya Angelou in which she recollects her childhood memory and sends a strong message to the reader.

In this article, Angelou talks about her eight-grade graduation experience. Angelou mainly focused about the unfair treatment of African Americans during that time because they were not values on their educational intelligence. Also, the white people were in charge of the African

This shows that Angelou no longer felt as if she accomplished a goal. After Mr. Edward Donleavy speech, she felt as if blacks could not achieve much after they get a diploma. The speech of discouragement led her to go onto the stage and receive her diploma in