Maya Angelou Phenomenal Woman

Post by: Regan Aurich

Maya Angelou, whose birth name is Marguerite Ann Johnson, is a well-known poet and writer and is known as “America’s most visible black female autobiographer” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou). In her work, some themes she has focused on are oppression, the idea of womanhood and motherhood, feminism, racism, family, and more. Angelou has accomplished many great things in her life, including being part of the Civil rights movement, reading her poem at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration, and working as Northern Coordinator of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

In her poem Still I Rise, she focuses on the problems of oppression and the idea of womanhood. The ideas of oppression are expressed as she questions the reader about what is expected of her and why people are surprised or upset by her actions that do not fit those expectations. She asks questions such as “Do you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries,” (Angelou). She also uses many examples of what women are expected to be and to act like. For instance, she says, “Does my sassiness upset you?” and “Does my haughtiness offend you?” By this, she is explaining how women are expected to always be respectful and never use a negative tone of voice that would make them seem proud, even if they are not happy about a situation.

Another poem called “Our Grandmothers” is about motherhood and racism. She tells a story about a mother who is going to be sold by her master and is trying to protect her children. She repeats the saying “I shall not be moved” implying that no matter what happens or how she is treated, she will not let it change her life or beliefs. She gives examples of degrading names people call her and says “I shall not be moved.” She does what she can to protect her children and her beliefs, which is in a way similar to “The Revolt of Mother” and how Sarah Penn stands up for her children and beliefs even when it was against what was sociably acceptable.

The poem “Phenomenal Woman” focuses on the ideas of beauty, womanhood, and oppression. She gives many examples of what a “beautiful” woman is expected to look like and how she doesn’t fit that description but still sees herself as a phenomenal woman. This can be compared to “The Bluest Eye” and how the idea of beauty is defined by society and how it affects the characters in the story. However, instead of coming to terms with the ideas, Angelou goes against those beliefs and shows that they don’t matter to her.

The fourth poem in this book is called “Weekend Glory” and is about racism and feminism. It is about a black woman working in a factory and being judged for it. She explains how she is fine with her life and makes enough money to support herself while still enjoying her time on the weekends like everyone else.

In all of these poems, she describes how she deals with the problems of oppression, racism, etc. As said on her official website, “Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou’s unique power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race and Angelou captivates audiences through the vigor and sheer beauty of her words and lyrics,” (http://mayaangelou.com/).

Citations

Angelou, Maya. “Still I Rise.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. n.d. Web. 20 April 2010.

Angelou, Maya. “Phenomenal Woman.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. n.d. Web. 20 April 2010.

Angelou, Maya. “Weekend Glory.” Poem Hunter. Poem Hunter. n.d. Web. 20 April 2010.

Angelou, Maya. “Our Grandmothers.” Poems. 16 March 1996. Web. 20 April 2010. http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/angelou/poems-ma.html#our grandmothers

Angelou, Maya. Maya Angelou-The Official Website. 2010. Web. 20 April 2010. http://mayaangelou.com/

Maya Angelou’s "Letter to My Daughter"

Post by: Jessica Morgan


Prior to reading Maya Angelou’s Letter to My Daughter I did my research on her life. Although Letter to My Daughter was main autobiographical, I wanted the basic facts. Being born in Missouri of 1928, it is remarkable how much this African American woman has achieved. I found this great website that provided a biography on Dr. Angelou who, “… is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.” (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/). In high school, I recall reading short poems by her, but I never knew how much further she has taken her talent.
Before I delve into the specifics and main themes of Letter to My Daughter, I would like to note my experience in reading one of Maya Angelou’s works. Reading Letter to My Daughter was very refreshing and inspirational. I was intrigued by her style of writing.

In Letter to My Daughter, Angelou discusses that she only had one son (which she later goes in depth about) and how every girl is her daughter, no matter their race, creed, gender, sexuality, etc. ‘Motherhood’ was a prevalent theme in the introduction. Angelou seemed to embody a mother-nature being; one who biologically and culturally understands what it means to care for their own children. Another predominant theme I found within reading the first few pages is on page five, “The submission to the idea that black people were inferior to white people, who I rarely saw.” (Angelou, 5). This statement relates very much to what Pecola Breedlove felt in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Racism, oppression, and beauty are all key themes that Angelou discusses as she continues talking about her childhood in Arkansas. As the story progresses, we examine the experiences involving her mother. Angelou visits her mother in California and has a hard time accepting this woman that left her family. ‘Motherhood’ comes up again as Angelou’s mother pleads her to love and be happy with her. At one point in Angelou’s life, she talks specifically about losing her virginity unwillingly to a boy she had no romantic interest in. On page 18, Angelou brings up the myth of beauty. As she doubts her own body and her sexual appeal an adolescent girl, she gives into the boy. Feeling hopeless and lost after the experience, she soon finds out she is pregnant. The myth of perfect love and physical beauty stand out the most here. She did not love this man, but gave him what he wanted simply to please him. Although she doubted her beauty, losing her virginity was her way in understanding her body better and accepting her consequences. Another key theme involving ‘Motherhood’ was when she gave birth to her son, on page 29, “Accident, Coincident, or Answer Prayer.” The three options she offers here, suggests that it wasn’t supposed to happen, it happened for no specific reason, or it was meant to happen. Giving birth to her son was the start of Angelou’s journey in motherhood. As she continues, she discusses the heartache she experienced, the immense physical abuse she endured, and people such as Bob, Decca, Celia Cruz and Fannie Lou Hamer that influenced her life greatly. Each page in Letter to My Daughter, created such strong imagery and a sense of being drawn into her personal life. As I finished reading her online biography, I read exactly what I felt as I read Letter to My Daughter- “Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts.” (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/).


Citations

Angelou, Maya. Letter to My Daughter. New York: 2009 Random House Trade Paperback Edition, 2008. 1- 166. Print.

Biography & website: http://mayaangelou.com/bio/

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Post by: Hannah Morris

With my interest and admiration for Maya Angelou, I decided to read one of her very early works titled I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I decided to read this not only because it was one of her first published books, but because it was also the first in her autobiographical works. I wanted to know about the experiences in her life and what helped shaped her in the woman she is today and her views of the world.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was published in 1970 and is probably one of Angelou's most successful and acclaimed works of writing (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/). It is told in first person from Angelou's point of view and tells in great detail, the events and experiences that Angelou went through from the age of 3 to about 16. The book discusses ideas of racism, gender discrimination, beauty, the relationship between children and parents, sexuality, child abuse, motherhood, and one's own path in life.

While the book contains numerous ideas and themes, racial segregation and oppression are probably the largest two of the themes in the novel. Being a young black girl in the south (specifically Stamp, Arkansas) Maya Angelou experienced racial discrimination a lot. She described the segregation being so complete, that most black children didn't know what "whitefolk" looked like (p. 25). There are many instances in Maya Angelou's life that I read about in the novel where she experienced discrimination and felt the oppression. I will only discuss two that I found terrible and shocking.

The first one is when Maya Angelou is graduating from 8th grade in Stamps, Arkansas. She was the 2nd in her class and was very excited to be graduating. A white man came and gave a speech at her graduation, and as he spoke, he mainly discussed how African Americans were thought to only become athletes or servants. He didn't encourage the children to go too far in their education and only commemorated blacks that were athletes. Angelou and many others in the room were aware of how the man was saying that blacks had no way of moving up in the world and were only expected to do physical labor. Angelou describes her feelings as she listened to the speech: "It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense" (p. 180). She remembers hating the speech and the awful feelings that crept into her stomach. She knew the man was putting her whole race down and she didn't like it at all.

Another instance is when Angelou was about 13 and had a rotten tooth. The closest dentist was a white man on the white side of town. Angelou's grandmother takes her to the dentist, but when they arrive, he refuses to work on Angelou. He says it's against his policy and he goes so far as to say, "I'd rather stick my hand in a dog's mouth than in a nigger's" (p. 189). Angelou and her grandmother were then forced to take the train to another town to a black dentist that would work on Angelou.

These are only a few out of the many instances where Angelou experienced the intense racism and oppression that came with being African American. However, while she may have had experienced this oppression, she did not let it keep her down. She continued to work hard in school, and even became the first African American to work in the San Francisco streetcars (p. 169). She had to work quite hard to get that job and pushed and pushed until they finally hired her. And from reading her online biography, I saw that this woman did not just stop there, but continued to fight for what she really believed in and still does today.

As I read this novel, I saw some similarities between I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and other novels or articles I have read. One is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, which also deals with racial discrimination and the social construct that whites are better than blacks. Maya Angelou dealt with many of the same struggles that the main character Pecola goes through, such as being looked down by white people and her ugliness that stems from the idea that white is beautiful and black is not. In fact, Angelou's novel opens up with a segment about wanting to be white, and look like the girls with blonde hair and blue eyes. Other works it reminded me of were Anger and Tenderness by Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde's Man Child: A Black Lesbian Feminist Response. The anger and frustrations Maya Angelou felt seemed similar to the feelings of Adrienne Rich's feelings about being a woman and mother; both were frustrated with the limitations and social expectations that society had placed upon them, with Angelou only being expected to be a quiet, complacent black woman that serves, and Rich having to be the stay at home mom. Then, in Lorde's article, she discusses how she did her best to teach her children that oppression comes in many forms, but it has nothing to do with self-worth (Lorde 75). I saw this lesson being displayed by Maya Angelou herself. While Angelou did have to struggle with being oppressed and lack of self-worth, she continued to push forward and try to beat the system, proving to them that they were wrong.

Maya Angelou really deserves to be recognized for her strength, courage, and willingness to fight for what she believes in. She is a woman that not only survived intense racial discrimination and oppression, but she worked to change it. She later went on to work with people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, traveling around to give speeches, writing novels and poems displaying her feelings and thoughts and not keeping quiet about her experiences (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/). This is a woman who found her voice even amongst all the cruel remarks, prejudice and oppression. She has even become someone I look up to and admire. My hope is that this simple fan page can get across this very important message: May Angelou is truly an amazing and admirable woman.

Citations:
Her Biography, source of pictures & website: http://mayaangelou.com/bio/

Streetcar picture came from: http://www.trolleystop.com/cablecar.htm

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1970. Print.

Lorde, Audre. Man Child: A Black Lesbian Feminist Response. 1979. Retrieved from d2l.arizona.edu. Web. 1 Apr. 2010

Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume, 1994. Print.

Rich, Adrienne Cecile. “Anger and Tenderness”. Of Women Born; Motherhood as Experience and Institution (1976): 21-40. Web. 24 Feb. 2010

Introduction

Maya Angelou is an inspiring and amazing woman.

When one of the members from my group suggested we choose Maya Angelou to create a fan page for, I began to do research. I had no idea who she was. I discovered her official website and read the numerous books she had written and scripts for movies she had created. The site stated that she was a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist (http://mayaangelou.com/bio/). I was quite impressed and decided to try to find a movie or two of hers on YouTube. I found instead many interviews in which she had taken part and watched this woman in live action. I was thoroughly surprised by what I saw. Here is the video I came across: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hg4oT9ik18

Angelou is an elderly black woman who speaks with authority and wisdom. While she speaks with power and honesty, she displays also a sense of humor and love that made me warm up to her as if she was my own grandmother. I decided that I officially liked this woman and that she definitely deserved a fan page. She is from a generation and race that had dealt with incredible hardship. She is a black woman who grew up in the South during times of great segregation and racism, through the Great Depression and World War II, and came out of those times displaying a strength and joy that shows her sense of self value and confidence. She also wants other women to know their value and how incredible they truly are.

Maya Angelou really deserves to have a fan page dedicated to her and some of her works. Thus, this page has a purpose: to delve into the life, works, and beliefs of this admirable and inspiring woman.


Citation:
http://mayaangelou.com/bio/

Post by: Hannah Morris