Maya Angelou Inspirational Poetry Analysis

She has carved a pathway where other young, old, married, or single black women have a direction where they can follow her lead to unimaginable distances.

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

n American history, racial inequality has been a prevalent issue for many decades. Slavery is America's original sin. In the 1930s, racial inequality and segregation lived and breathed well. At this point in time, segregation in schools and other public places was still present. For preposterous reasons, white and black people had separate water fountains, restaurants, rest rooms, and areas on the bus. 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, like many others, had 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.

She also conveys in this poem that hard times and painful past experiences aren’t reasons to avoid living life, but yet is a part of what makes one’s “life”. She uses death as a metaphor for life’s battles in her recurring phrase “I keep on dying”, but adds the idea of starting over and having another chance to overcome battles that are recurring in her life (12). The title of this particular poem, "The Lesson" is very significant to the poem within itself. The lesson that is preached in this poem is about the constant courage and determination in one’s life to defeat and her refusal to be overwhelmed by the challenges of life. Her hope as a determined woman will get her through her personal and physical tribulations, and even though each challenge in life offers her up a small dose of “death,” every time, it cannot keep her or anybody technically speaking down permanently. When there is a will, there is a way and Angelou always made a way to get back on her feet and keep it moving.

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

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.

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 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).

Maya Angelou is a very well educated and well known black woman. She studied at California Labor School and was appointed Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University (Maya Angelou: Poet and Historian, n.d.). In giving her speech at Spelman College, a predominantly black school, she was very well qualified for the occasion. It is no secret that Angelou participated in the Civil Rights Movement, she was a teacher, a successful writer, and a national figure. According to Thill and Bovee (2015), “Successful communication relies on a positive relationship between sender and receiver”

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.

Unlike Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou devoted her life to inspiring African Americans to do whatever they wanted to do no matter what other people said. She also wanted to inspire people. Her poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise inspired not only the African American people, which is was intended to, but the whole world including men. Like Hughes, Maya Angelou did not think that one day she would be reading one of her poems at President Clinton 's inauguration. But she did think that she would inspire young African American writers that they too could become wonderful writers in a white society. Angelou is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary black literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman.

Maya Angelou has inspired me in more ways than one, and I had to write about her. When Maya speaks people listen. She has this wisdom that only few have, especially when life wasn’t always great. She turned tragedy into triumph, and helped others in doing so. So, Maya has proven too many women, especially black women that you succeed, even if you have had a child in your teen years. She’s proof that with determination nothing is unattainable.

Dr. Angelou is best known for the first volume of her autobiography, in it, she bravely speaks of her battle to overcome abuse, rape, and poverty. For thousands of young Black women reading the book, it is a way of passage for those who have been similarly victimized, it is like a soothing ointment that helps heal the wounds. Angelou gives a voice to the voiceless; she says, "You're not alone. In happened to me

Maya Angelou is one out of the best known poets. She has written a lot of poems that inspires and assist people with their lives. She has a “desire humbleness to learn and experience all that life has to offer her” (gale biography in context, “Maya Angelou More than a Poet”) which makes her poems have a meaning to them. In addition, Maya Angelou got a lot of pieces of poems considered equality to her experience as a human of the United States during race times and her experience as a person who worked with other civil right activist. Maya Angelou uses deep themes that leaves the reader to think about the topic is being talked about. In her poem, “Still I Rise” she talks metaphorically about discrimination. In the poem, it states, “does my haughtiness offend you? ( the poetry foundation, “Maya Angelou”). This quote from the poem shows how the rest of the poem is about people believe they is better than other people and that the other people should suffer because they are inferior to the people, but the people being abused should not be embarrassed of who they are and be thankful for life(“Maya Angelou More than a Poet 1”).

Maya Angelou and Alice Walker are two well-known contemporary African- American writers. Although both women are from different generations they share some of the same qualities and experiences. Both women used their past experiences of tragedy and hardship as a stepping stool for growth by turning that pain into what now are famous stories and poems. For most writers, majority of their work stem from their own experiences, and for both Alice and Maya a great deal of their works regarded the dilemmas many African American people faced during that time such as prejudice and discrimination.