39 pages • 1 hour read
Maya AngelouA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
The poem’s criticism of anti-Black racism aligns with Angelou’s life experiences and her life-long activism. As a child, Angelou experienced race-related trauma because of her gender, race, and class. For a time during her childhood, the poet was mute, in response to a trauma she experienced, and the support and encouragement of her teacher, Mrs. Bertha Flowers, transformed her life. Thanks to Mrs. Flowers, Angelou began to speak again and to love poetry. Mrs. Flowers placed Black female writers like Frances Harper, Anne Spencer, and Jessie Fause amongst white male writers like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, elevating the stature of the Black poets and valuing of Black art as equal to that of white mainstream writers and artists. This education informed Angelou’s career, and she carried on placing value on Black women’s experiences and feelings.
Throughout her life, Angelou also engaged in activism. Though Angelou’s politics were not as radical as other writers, Angelou supported different civil rights efforts throughout her life. For example, “Still I Rise” appeared in an advertising campaign for the United Negro College Fund.
Angelou met Martin Luther King, Jr. through her work for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A speech by King in 1960 inspired Angelou to stage the revue “Cabaret for Freedom,” and in 1968, King asked her to organize a march.
By Maya Angelou
A Brave And Startling Truth
A Brave And Startling Truth
Maya Angelou
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
Maya Angelou
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Maya Angelou
Caged Bird
Caged Bird
Maya Angelou
Gather Together in My Name
Gather Together in My Name
Maya Angelou
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
Letter to My Daughter
Letter to My Daughter
Maya Angelou
Mom & Me & Mom
Mom & Me & Mom
Maya Angelou
Mother, A Cradle to Hold Me
Mother, A Cradle to Hold Me
Maya Angelou
On the Pulse of Morning
On the Pulse of Morning
Maya Angelou
Phenomenal Woman
Phenomenal Woman
Maya Angelou
The Heart of a Woman
The Heart of a Woman
Maya Angelou
The Lesson
The Lesson
Maya Angelou