Maya Angelou And The Civil Rights Movement

Maya Angelou was an inspiring activist, poet, and woman. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. Throughout her lifetime she explored her career options as an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and editor among many other careers. Angelou had a tough childhood. Her parents divorced when she was very young and she was sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas along with her brother Bailey. As an African American, Angelou experienced discrimination and racial prejudices. Angelou gave birth to her son Guy, at the age of sixteen and married her first husband Tosh Angelos, at the age of twenty-four. Angelou and Tosh divorced years later however, she did get married a couple of more times. Angelou experienced many

Deep in the forest of Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the caged bird sings on. The singing slaves in Douglass’s narrative are the caged birds of Maya Angelou’s famous poem, filling the air around them with desire: desire for a freedom so far out of reach—for “things unknown but longed for still.”

Maya Angelou is a phenomenal woman. She rises through all things that come her way and she refuses to back down. Angelou chose at a very young age to be a writer and a role model for many people. She believes that everyone should be treated equally and that the world should come together as a unity. Angelou had many careers but is known mostly for her poetic creations. She has come a long way from where she started and I think anyone can agree with me when I say, she has made us all proud with her accomplishments. Angelou writes poetry to inform and encourage others to carry on through the worst of times. She is a strong, confident, inspirational woman and I am more than honored to be doing my senior paper on her.

At the request of Dr. Martin Lutheran King Jr., she became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1975. Maya is presently on the board of American Film Institute, and is one of the few female members of the board of the Directors Guide. (Source card #5)      Besides being a writer she is also an

Maya Angelou is terrific performer, singer, filmmaker, and civil-rights activist. She is a phenomenal woman, one thing that she does best is writing. She is still living today, I believe her legend will never die. If one would talk to her, he or she would think she has lead a normal, happy life. Her life is blissful now, it was not always perfect. Maya beard enough emotional stress in a time frame that most people do not experience in a lifetime. Her experiences and the lessons learned encouraged her to help others become strong. Maya Angelou is one of the best examples of someone overcoming rape, being mute for several years, and having a child at a young age to achieve success of becoming an accomplished

Maya Angelou was inspirational and helpful to others. She has helped people to look at themselves and other people in different, better ways. Angelou also had a joyful and loving personality. She was very engaged in everything that she did (Hoffert). Along with her outstanding personality and inspiration to others, Angelou was helpful. She helped people from many nations and bridged divides between races. This was such an admirable trait that a residence hall at Wake Forest University was named after Angelou (Kennedy). It has been said by Toni Morrison that she was there when you need it the most. Morrison has a firsthand experience with this because Angelou was the first person not in the family to call when Morrison’s son died (Hoffert).

“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.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” depicts two birds which are used as metaphors to express the state in which the two classes of people live. In one description the poem describes the standard of living of a bird of privilege which alludes to the lives of whites. Then it describes caged birds whom of which are crying out for freedom, and are meant to represent African Americans during this time. It describes the feeling of being trapped and calling out for

In Maya Angelou’s poem, “Caged Bird”, She explains how a bird is trapped inside of a cage and can not escape from thick metal bars that hold it back. It imagines and signs of having freedom. People believe this is about a bird, but what if it isn’t. I believe that this is talking about a person who can’t make the decision if they want to keep fighting to do free.The bird can’t decide if it wants to fight to soon wear the bars of the cage down so it can finally fly away aswell or to give up and use its voice and

“But a caged bird stands on a grave of dreams... His wings are clipped and his feet are tied/so he opens his throat to sing…” (M.A 26-29). This quote describes the birds emotions as it loses its dreams, it doesn't lose its hope so it repeatedly sings hoping it will reach a bird for assistance. It also portrays a very positive them as the reader figures out that its perseverance pays off. “...and his tune is heard/on the distant hill…”(M.A 19-20). This is validating the fact that the bird’s prayers have successfully been retrieved and help is nearer than it has been thought.

She also became such a person herself. President Barack Obama once saidOver the course of her remarkable life, Maya was many things -- an author, poet, civil rights activist, playwright, actress, director, composer, singer and dancer," Obama said. "But above all, she was a storyteller -- and her greatest stories were true. A childhood of suffering and abuse actually drove her to stop speaking -- but the voice she found helped generations of Americans find their rainbow amidst the clouds, and inspired the rest of us to be our best selves. In fact, she inspired my own mother to name my sister

Maya Angelou is one of the most important American Authors who ever lived. She was an African-American woman who spoke her mind and when someone told her she couldn’t do something, it made her want to do it even more so that she could prove them wrong (Shapiro). Her life was incredibly difficult, but it made her who she was and influenced her writing and poetry immensely. As Gary Younge once said, “To know her life story is to simultaneously wonder what on earth you have been doing with your life and feel glad that you didn’t have to go through half the things she has.” She is important because she influenced women, people of color, and anyone who has gone through hard times. Maya Angelou is an essential American author because of

The mood of “Caged Bird” changes drastically from stanza to stanza. Angelou’s specific diction choices help to reflect the change from being positive to negative with some elements of hope involved. The parts of the poem involving the free bird provide the reader with a feeling of self government.In contrast, the mood associated with the caged bird is confinment. Despite the negative mood tied to the caged bird there are still elements of hope woven into these stanzas.

However, in the poem “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou characterizes the free and caged bird as, one bird symbolizing imprisonment and limitations while the other symbolizes freedom, which further develops the theme of inequality. The line “And dares to claim the sky” shows how unaware the free bird is and further develops the idea of its freedom. This piece of evidence shows how unaware the free bird is by exaggerating the extent of its freedom compared to the caged bird. In

In the last stanza, the caged bird’s song symbolises the emotions and cries of freedom. The combination of the two represents that there is a need for every child to reach their full potential. Something that cannot be achieved with helicopter parenting and the barriers placed upon them.