Sojourner Truth And Maya Angelou Essay

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 was a civil rights activist, author, and poet. She wrote many books and poems that conveyed the vivid experiences in her life. Maya Angelou’s works are well known and she is an eminent writer. One poem in particular that is well known is “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” written in 1969. In this work she described racial inequality, and the lack of freedom African Americans experienced in the 1930’s and 40’s. Maya Angelou uses many Rhetorical strategies and literary devices to describe the lack of racial freedom in the world at this time.

Sojourner Truth is now known as a Catalyst for change. When Sojourner was born her name was Isabella Baumfree. However, “On June 1,1843, Isabella Baumfree changed her name to Sojourner Truth, devoting her life to Methodism and the abolition of slavery.”(4) Sojourner to many means to travel. So, you could say that Sojourner Truth was a traveler of Truth. The next major event that makes Sojourner Catalyst for change was “In May of 1851, Truth delivered a speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron. The extemporaneous speech, recorded by several observers, would come to be know as “Ain’t I a Woman?” The first version of the speech, published a month later by Marius Robinson, editor of Ohio newspaper The Anti- Slavery Bugle, did

Maya Angelou is one of the most distinguished African American writers of the twentieth century. Writing is not her only forte she is a poet, director, composer, lyricist, dancer, singer, journalist, teacher, and lecturer (Angelou and Tate, 3). Angelou’s American Dream is articulated throughout her five part autobiographical novels; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Gather Together in my Name, Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas, The Heart of a Woman, and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes. Maya Angelou’s American Dream changed throughout her life: in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya’s American dream was to fit into a predominantly white society in small town

Sojourner Truth, born with the name Isabella Baumfree, was a famous African-American woman in her time. She was born into slavery in the year of 1797 in the state of New York. Even though she did not receive any education, she was still very intelligent. She had a low voice which some listeners deemed it masculine but her singing voice was beautifully powerful. She did have five children with her husband Thomas but left them to be free from slavery. Sojourner Truth died on November 26, 1883 but in her life time, she inspired many people with her speeches.

Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 on the Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh estate in Swartekill, in Ulster County, a Dutch settlement in upstate New York. Her given name was Isabella Baumfree, also spelled Bomefree. She was one of 13 children born to Elizabeth and James Baumfree, also slaves on the Hardenbergh plantation. She spoke only Dutch until she was sold from her family around the age of nine.

Truth was an illiterate woman of remarkable intelligence. Sojourner became a national symbol for not only strong black women, but to white women as well. She helped all women who were unhappy with the limitations imposed upon them. She was one of the most outspoken advocates, active in both the campaign to extend equal rights to all women and abolition (America). She is also known for other moving statements such as “An abolition affair!" and "Woman's rights and niggers!" (Biographical) She also “put protestors in their place”(Newsweek).

Sojourner Truth once remarked, in reply to an allusion to the late Horace Greeley, "You call him a self-made man; well, I am a self-made woman” (Gilbert, v). This quote digs deeper into the leadership of what Sojourner Truth’s journey was all about. Truth’s greatest commitments for women’s suffrage stood alongside of her remark to Greely. No woman was just to be a housewife or a slave to her own family, but to be able to enjoy the world as men did. Sojourner Truth was an important figure in American History because she helped create a pathway for the ideas of feminism and the justices of racial equality.

Maya Angelou, who was the first African-American to work in the San Francisco streetcars, accomplished many things in her life. This fact proves that Angelou was a woman who believed in doing what needs to be done in order to accomplish her goals. Angelou made an influence on the world with her books and poems that related to diverse people in different situations, but most importantly, she fought for African-American right in the early and middle 1900s.

Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle Baumfree in 1787 and became one of the most famous African American women in the united states. Sojourner Truth had a very tough life as being sold as a slave for only 100 dollars.as a slave, she worked really hard and never complained as another man do.she went through dark pains of raped by owners and had 10 kids.during the civil war Sojourner Truth later ecscaped slavery and found her freedom

Sojourner Truth is prominent for being an abolitionist, an evangelist, and a feminist. Born into slavery, Sojourner Truth was a victim of ill-treatment and underrepresentation of the slave whose rights were ignored. Her extemporaneous speeches and stand against slavery favored not only abolition but also gave women and the minority groups voices in the New World. Truth’s contributions, therefore, have continued to motivate women to fight for their rights and leadership positions against patriarchy in the contemporary world.

In the 19th century, Sojourner Truth was the most influential and important spokeswoman for human rights. Truth heavily advocated for women’s rights throughout the 1840’s and 1850’s (Sojourner Truth National Parks). She also was an avid supporter of black rights during her life. Truth went on lecture tours, speaking to the public about these subjects, hence her pseudonym (Sojourner Truth A Life). As for the abolitionist movement, Truth gave support in the fight against slavery. She is now memorialized as one the foremost social reformers of her generation (Sojourner Truth Nation Parks).

A strong and influential memoirist is able to grasp the reader’s attention and dive into topics bigger than themselves. Maya Angelou, the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, describes herself as neither a hero nor a victim as she recollects her past. Growing up, Maya Angelou not only suffered from white prejudice and gender inequality, she was presented with situations that made her feel powerless. According to Angelou, “The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, whites illogical hate and Black lack of power,” (Angelou, 272). However, she found herself persevering through all of the adversity she faced and accepted her reality: “the fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement” (Angelou, 272). Angelou did an exceptional job of describing herself as neither a hero nor a victim in her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

The decade of the 1850s was a turbulent period for minority groups in the United States of America primarily affecting African-Americans and women. This was an era of rampant slavery, unjust conditions, such as job discrimination and limited access to education, and the severe lack of equal rights. When Sojourner Truth emerged as one of the first African-American women to ascend into the eye of the public, with her delivery of a speech at the National Women’s Convention in 1851, she became a fundamental representation of the struggle for liberation and suffrage for those considered an inferior standard of citizen or not a citizen whatsoever. In her speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” Truth effectively fires the arrows of anecdotal references, repetition,

Dr. Maya Angelou were born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, MO on April 4, 1928, Maya were childhood name given to her by her brother Bailey. She were a child of a divorced parent raised by her grandmother (whom she called momma) along with her brother in Stamp, Arkansas. A single mother that held many titles to her name that evolve from experience she dealt in her lifetime. To the world, she is an educator, dancer, poets, activist, author and many more. Angelou publishes numerous bestselling book during her career-breaking barrier for African American and women that isn’t expected for a single African woman. Her career had earned her a nomination for Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘For I Diee. She became one of the first African American