I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I’ve always loved Maya Angelou. This is my 2nd time reading this book. I got it for my book club. You’ll enjoy it. It shows how important it is to talk to our children. This book dives into the life of Ms. Angelou.As an African-Caribbean-American woman I was able to understand her pain and her triumphs.

I had never read Maya Angelou’s gorgeous ode to her childhood growing up in Stamps, Arkansas and, later, San Francisco until now. And I’m sorry to have waited so long. Gloriously written and unflinchingly honest, Angelou’s prose sings like a bird (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), and most sentences are instantly quotable. For example, take this beauty of a quote about teenage angst: “To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision. Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity. It becomes easier to die and avoid conflict than to maintain a constant battle with the superior forces of maturity.” Amen. That hits a little too close to the bone, as does most of her book. Also, I feel compelled to point out how much I loved her description of reading the well-known lesbian novel “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe: “For months the book was both a treat and a threat. It allowed me to see the mysterious world of the pervert.” Oh honey, I can relate! I read scores of books during my adolescence which allowed me to see the same – and I’m forever grateful for that.If you, like me, still haven’t picked up a copy of this classic autobiography, please do yourself a favor and start reading. I will forever be intrigued with the plight of little Marguerite Johnson and her moving journey into adulthood.

Born to dark skins, poor parents in disgusting prejudiced areas, incest raped as a child, Maya overcame these and every disaster life faced to her. Her writing, poetry, and this autobiography has earned the highest awards and deserves the title CLASSICS. Having heard her speak in person, I can attest that she rose high above every life challenge which faced her. Her book, this book, tells the good, bad, ugly, and beautiful TRUTH about one of the world’s GREATEST WOMEN EVER! No, she was not perfect, nor does she claim perfection. Maya just accomplished more real, for others and herself, good than all but a very few humans in history.

I don’t know the reviews for this book yet. What I’m saying is this book is a required reading for my daughter. I saw the movie made from this book when I was young, and I told my daughter that the books the movies are made from are far more better and fill in blanks. So, she is preparing to read it and I’m sure that after she does, I will need to buy her the other books in this series.But, this is the autobiography of Maya Angelou, one should know that this is a must read. The movie was very good, and I am glad it is a required reading for my daughter, for when she is done, I will read it and I know that we will purchase the follow-up books as well, for I would like to know what drove Maya to be Maya, what hills and valley’s she came through. This is historic and a must read for Young Women, because Maya overcame many things.

This book was a fascinating account of a young African-American girl’s upbringing in the Jim Crow South. I had never before felt any guilt or shame for being white. None of my ancestors owned slaves, and my parents (who were contemporaries of Ms. Angelou) never uttered a racist remark in their lives. Yet, Ms. Angelou’s account of her youth made me feel ashamed for the way whites treated her and her African-American contemporaries. This book was a real eye-opener for a 55-year old white male.The detailed description of some events that some readers have found offensive were not nearly so graphic as their reviews suggested. The fact that there is no plot doesn’t matter; It is an autobiographical collection of anecdotes, not a novel.No matter the content, this book is a delight.for the writing style alone. Ms. Angelou’s gift of poetic expression is something that everyone should experience. Characters and events are brought to life in a way that few writers can accomplish. I find no fault in making this book required reading for high school classes. In addition to giving young readers insight into early 20th century African-American experiences, this book will improve one’s vocabulary and should improve one’s writing skills.

I really enjoyed this book. Being Caucasian, I was so unaware of things the Black Race has been through. I knew they were very much underprivileged and looked down upon but this book shows how hard life really was for the Blacks back in the 40s, 50s and early 60s. Things started changing in the 60s as was very much needed. This book shows what a person can become, even in difficult situations if they work hard, forgive and persevere. A pearl is formed by a single grain of sand getting into an oyster’s shell and making the oyster so uncomfortable it tried to compensate and a beautiful pearl is formed. This is what happened to Maya Angelou. She was truly a beautiful pearl and has done so much for the Black Race. I am looking forward to reading more of her books.

Upon the death of Dr. Maya Angelou, I looked through my personal library to see if I still had any books penned by Dr. Angelou. I had read this several years ago and found it to be a fascinating read even then. Through my younger eyes and mind, I thought it was raw, exciting and dramatic! As I re-read it within the last few days with older eyes and my own life experiences, I had a new and different view. I could really FEEL her emotions, her PAIN, and her TRIUMPHS as she struggled through her early years. I then decided to spend the summer reading the entire autobiography collection. Her story should inspire all who think life is “hard” to not give up, but to persevere through life’s ups and downs and triumph through it. I would also recommend reading the entire series. It will make you laugh, make you cry, make you angry and make you curse……….but it will also make you PRAY and It will make you more aware of LOVE.

An elegant telling by poet, memoirist, Maya Angelou of her early upbringing in the southern town of Stamps, Alabama, in the 1930s by her strong-willed grandmother, to her eventual move to her mother in San Francisco during the 1940s and 50s.Angelou doesn’t hold back her experiences – the good, bad, and the ugly. It’s a compelling read, one filled with dignity and grace. It’s also a great look at a troubling era in race relations in our country that has, in some ways, changed, and sadly in others, has not. Even with that, at the heart of the memoir is the elegant coming of age story of a young Black girl dealing with looming womanhood.Never boring or overindulgent, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is well worth spending time with.

Published in 1969 and one of several autobiographies that Maya Angelou would write. However, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is her first and the most intimate memoirs to be written and to take into account a lifetime of experiences during the most pivotal periods in American history. Her story represents and is symbolic to the African American experience during pre-civil rights era and the migration of communities in the United States during the late 1930s and 1950s that uprooted their lives from the south in places such as Stamps, Arkansas, St. Louis Missouri in the Midwest, and to the West to San Francisco. But the unique aspect about this history and story, it is first told from the perspective of Angelou as a child and the events that will occur thereafter in this coming of age memoir. Upon reading the first lines of the book, readers will be in store with much of the emotional intensity from Marguerite Bailey as well as the moving elements of her narrative that are told with great detail. Her story is told in flashbacks but within a block of memories, and there are several worth noting. But one did leave a lasting impression that involved the a pre-World War II era and the home-front during the war, especially the effects that the war had on particular communities; one of the interesting bits of history that Marguerite observes was when she was in San Francisco and how the internment of Japanese Americans in her neighborhood left a void to the community, shops and businesses and homes that were left vacant. But as time progressed during the war, the void was filled as more African Americans looked for opportunities on the west coast. And as a bright-eyed and precocious child to a blooming and maturing young lady, this event and several others may touch a nerve. Aside from the history, there exists the social dilemmas and issues that tend to be subtly told but clearly understood that related to the adversity that Marguerite experienced and the questions that she either asked her mother and the answers that she received of that is the way things were, or what she questioned of herself. With that sentiment in mind, throughout the book readers see the strength in the words that Angelou wrote, “Without willing it, I had gone from being ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware. And the worst part of my awareness was that I wasn’t aware of what I was aware of…” (288)Whether one first reads this most thought-provoking book in school as a class assignment or out of curiosity, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is as relevant today as it may have been the day one first read the book. Indeed, it is a story worth discussing because of its timelessness, but most importantly, the somewhat unspeakable issues that she shares with the reader that still exist today as it existed during Maya Angelou’s time.

Great

I read this book because I was on Goodreads and saw how “angry” some people were about the “content” of the book. I always go out of my way to read books that are often banned or censored. To those people who take issue with the late Dr. Angelou’s work, I would say that in spite of some of the things that she discusses, this book is a true gem. Not only that, it is so poetic and masterfully written. Her descriptions of events and people in the book “grow” as the characters in the book mature and evolve, and I found that to be the book’s greatest strength.I never felt that the author “hated” white people — I think the problem was that she just never had any exposure that was positive to her. Her upbringing, at least as she described it in the book, was one where her grandmother went out of her way to keep her out of trouble so she only knew the life she knew. Her depictions of living in the Deep South and dealing with segregation were so real and vivid that her book gives a real view of how difficult life was growing up with these kinds of difficulties and oppression. The author’s ability to pull you into her life is simply amazing from a literary point of view: it was like she was holding my hand and walking me through events in her life. I can’t wait to read her other books.

Excellent, been wanting to read it for years – so glad I finally did. My father is from Alabama, never heard a prejudice remark from him. His grandparents had slaves, which refused to leave when they were freed that she wrote to me about in a letter she wrote and left for me before she died. I was only two years old at the time and my mother gave it to me when I was about twenty. It is one of my dearest treasures. I have old photos of his “black nanny” in many family photos, whom he loved dearly and spoke of them only with fondness. My grandmothers diaries have many articles about black families and my grandmothers family helping each other out with all sorts of things, they were a daily part of each others lives. That period of time was not one for our country to be proud of – and still is not as it should be today.

Oh, Maya…where to start? Words can’t explain my sadness at the recent passing of this iconic poet/author, mother, teacher, etc. There is so much to be learned from her work and from her life’s wild journey. Yet the world is a better place for having had her in it…she shared with us her wisdom, her wit, her strength, her humor, her dignity.Whenever I read her story I am truly moved and inspired. She came a long way from being a poor little Black girl in the South to becoming a national treasure. This woman endured so much pain…poverty, racism, low self-esteem, lack of stability, and a childhood rape that resulted in her becoming selectively mute for nearly six years. She had very few people in her life that she could truly depend on. What seems to have carried her through all of the horror was her brilliant mind, profound love of words even when she lost the ability to communicate, and the love of “Momma” the grandmother who raised her in rural Arkansas.There will never be another Marguerite Johnson or as she was better known, Maya Angelou. She brought so many gifts to the world and to anyone who has experienced any sort of trauma and abuse, she helped us find our voices too. There are many “caged birds” in this world who want to be set free so that they may sing. Maya’s story contains lessons about humanity, healing, redemption and the power of love to set us free.Sadly this book has been banned in some schools, which is a shame because it should be required reading. Yes, racism and rape/molestation are painful subjects but they are facts of life…we shouldn’t shy away from the ugliness of reality. Instead, Maya’s story should be an example of how ugliness can be turned into something beautiful. She took her painful experiences and used them as a way to touch others, thereby creating something positive that endures to this day. That is what being an artist is about. She leaves behind not only her loved ones but also a legacy of great works and millions of admirers. I only wish I could have met her.

Do yourself a favor reading this book.

Because Maya is so well known for her poetry, this is what I was expecting. But despite that, I was not at all disappointed. This is the first of her work I’ve read, and all the reasons for her many accolades at her passing became obvious as I read this autobiography of her early years. It was at times difficult to read of the pain she endured, psychological and physical. But it was a marvel to see it expressed in such an effective manner. This now qualifies as among my favorite books of all times, as I know it does for many.As an aside, I read this on my new Kindle and was impressed at how great it was to have the built in dictionary that came up not just with her vocabulary beyond mine at times, but even most of her southern black idioms. Though I prefer print copy for reading generally, this was a great feature that I now miss with my print books!

This is a hard story to read but an important one – though many people seem to read it for the wrong reasons or, at least, to come away from it with a misdirected understanding. Angelou was a giant of a story teller and this is her personal account of her childhood. Dividing her time mostly between her paternal grandmother’s home in rural Arkansas and her mother’s home in San Francisco, it offers a perspective on life as a child who was audaciously intelligent, well read, educated and relatively affluent. Though from a broken home, Angelou didn’t seem to understand the wealth she grew up with – both intellectual and pecuniary. Her grandmother was a successful woman with diverse business interests who owned not only those businesses but real estate; her mother, too, was a relatively affluent property owner and even her father had a successful career that allowed him to own a car and travel in a time when that was rare, especially for a black man. It is also a disconcerting tale of a black child who suffers the indignities of racism, more often in the form of the pervasive and incendiary hatred and fear of whites that permeated the black community than direct exposure to it. Despite all her advantages, and they were many, she has a difficult childhood and seems destined to fall into the same pattern of resentful obsequiousness that surrounded her. That ultimately she did not is not just gratifying but a benefit to us all and trying to figure out how she escaped that fate is the most important question of this book – and one it never directly answers.If you haven’t read it, you should. If you read it without aggressively challenging your assumptions and those of the author, you’ve missed the point.

Must read for anyone.

What do you expect from a book by Maya Angelou? Well this was the first one I have read and while I won’t say I couldn’t put it down it did hold my interest and keep me coming back for more.The book is a memoir of Angelou’s early life as a child, teen, and mother. She makes you feel that she is honest to the bone and I think she really is. The book takes you through her childhood living with her Grandmother, and sometimes her Mother. Her older brother was her confident, best friend, everything only a brother can be. Later as a teen she lived between her Mother and Father, eventually staying with her beautiful Mother. She regarded her mother as beautiful and never felt pretty herself, but she made the most of her situation and was a little too hard on herself.Even though these are real life characters she made them stand up and touch you. The language is elegant and when I was finished I just sat and stared for awhile. Had I just read a memoir or a book of poetry, I questioned myself; due to the way everything, whether good or bad, flowed smoothly together.I read this book after Maya Angelou died because I wanted to know something about her. I don’t think I will seek out more of her writing to read but I do highly recommend this book, especially if you are a newcomer, like me, to Angelou’s writing.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to read this book! I’ve heard about it for years, seen it referenced in other books and movies, yet I always avoided reading it myself. After coming across it again on the Amazon store, I decided to go ahead. Maybe I would get bored one day and skim it.Oh my goodness.As soon as I started reading it, I didn’t stop. Starting at 7:00 pm., by the time the birds signaled dawn, I finished the last page with tears in my eyes.Aside from the obviously touching story, Maya Angelou is a truly gifted writer. She was able to transform her writing as her character (herself) aged. She wrote from the mind of a child in the beginning, and by the end, she had a new maturity.Beautiful. Worth all the accolades it’s received thus far.

What can I add to perfection in writing?! Maya Angelou’s command of descriptive language is outstanding, and her real life story-telling mezmerising! This should be required reading for all high school students!

This book is worth reading on a lot of levels. First, her use of language describing her insights and observations is profound and beautiful. Example 1: “Then the wife who had been so charming and ready to smile changed into a silent shadow that played infrequently along the walls.” Example 2: “The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.” Example 3: “The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.” Example 4: “He was a simple man who had no inferiority complex about his lack of education and, even more amazing, no superiority complex because he had succeeded despite that lack.”Second. The stories she tells give a flavor of living in that place and time, as well as the cultural differences. For example she tells a story that starts with: “One afternoon, I was invited into our smoke-filled dining room to make the acquaintance of Stonewall Jimmy, Just Black, Cool Clyde, Tight Coat, and Red Leg. Daddy Cidell explained to me that they were the most successful con men in the world, and they were going to tell me about some games so that I would never be ‘anybody’s mark.'”Third. She gives specific examples of how the Black culture differed form the White, specifically the educated Black youth. Example: “We were alert to the gap separating the written word from the colloquial. We learned to slide out of one language and into another without being conscious of the effort. At school, in a given situation, we might respond with ‘That’s not unusual.’ But in the street, meeting the same situation, we easily said, ‘It be’s like that sometimes.'”Fourth. She depicts the good, the bad and the ugly, not only in herself and her family but also in the Black and White culture. She does not gloss over her fears and failures. She does this not in a judgmental, mean or racist way, but almost as a non involved bystander would, or a journalist trying to be fair.There is much wisdom in this book and I hope my review will encourage you to read it.

I bought this book specifically because it has been on so many banned books lists.This book talks about life – the good, the bad, and the (definitely) ugly.Is it appropriate for a 4th grader? Probably not.Is there anything in it that an 8th grader shouldn’t be able to handle? Not really.Do I think this should be required reading in high school instead of being banned by scared parents who are worried about their delicate little flowers having an understanding of the bad parts of our society and history? ABSOLUTELY.I WISH this had been one of the books I had to read for high school English – if you are wanting this book banned, you are doing a severe disservice to the kids who should be reading it to get a much better understanding of the world.

Heartbreaking gut wrenching account of a child being abused. Although, some satisfaction is provided in the knowing that the perp was punished harshly.

This book is insightful, its an great read and takes you on a journey. Read this books and others on purpose. Knowledge is power and the expansion of the mind is necessary.

I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to reading this 1970 classic. Maybe it’s because I was just a little girl when it was written. I was part of the New South, the white child who played house with black and white dolls, oblivious of my roots. Dr. Angelou’s natural poetic prose describes a South that I’m too young to remember. The story of her childhood during the first half of the Twentieth Century will remain in my heart until the day I die. I’m eternally grateful to the author for sharing her life with me. She brings alive an era that we Southerners have long forgotten or swept under the rug. It was a time of injustice and unimagined cruelty toward Black Americans that I never knew existed in my sweet southern hometown. But if I’m totally honest, I must admit that the wrongs of the past lay dormant beneath the placid smiles and practiced greetings on Main Street.In this story, the reader learns firsthand what it was like growing up Black in America nearly one hundred years ago. The story travels from rural Stamps, Arkansas to St. Louis, Missouri during The Great Depression, then onto California during World War II. I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS is just a glimpse of a remarkable, well-lived life. Reading this book a rare opportunity and privilege that I invite everyone to experience.

I love the voice carried on n this book…. it saved my life at 15 and is teaching me something new all over again at 38. I recommend it to anyone who needs to see a human experience that is once familiar as it foreign .. no matter what of life they are coming from as a child or have chosen as an adult.

I have heard the name Maya Angelou more than a few times through my friend on Facebook and on a predominantly black forum when she passed away. Curious, I bought this book misunderstanding it to be a collection of her poetry.Instead, I found the very insightful memoirs of a black woman growing up in a very racist america, not even a century after slavery had been abolished. There is no even timeline, only a roughly chronological account of memorable periods in Angelou’s life as a young black girl in predominantly black entourages.Many readers on here complain that the book is more racist than it is entertaining. While I don’t believe the phrase “blacks can’t be racist” as I do not believe it takes power dynamics for racism, it can be clearly understood why Angelou sounds extremely disdainful (and hence, in my opinion, racist) towards white people. White doctors refusing to treat blacks are just one example in this book of black people getting dearly little incentive to like white people. Not that they do today, but back then, when Angelou was a kid, slavery was a mere two or three generations gone and her accounts make it clear that white people felt rather bummed it was over.The entertainment complaint strikes me as ridiculous. This is not Harry Potter, this is not 50 Shades of Gray. This is the true story of a woman who is sharing a very insightful account of how a black girl at that point in time, is raised to view the world: religious factors, societal factors and race politics all become clear from her memoirs, and as someone who hasn’t spent more than 4 days in america and, for a long time, didn’t understand the claim of racism and white supremacy, I find it very educational in terms of race dynamics and where today’s “situation” between black and white americans comes from. I started reading the book a bit bummed to find it’s not poems but a 300 page memoir about someone I didn’t think I could identify with. I continued reading it for wanting to know what it’s like for a black person to live in a white supremacy. I wanted to read about white supremacy in its subtle and less subtle action. And this book provides that insight because it’s from an everyday person’s point of view, not a politician’s or a movement leader’s or celebrity’s. It also provides insight into the weirdness of being raised religiously and what it does to one’s mind. All in all, the book is, I repeat myself, very insightful when you want to know about race dynamics and religious upbringing from a late 20’s African American’s point of view.If you’re not looking for that, then yes, the book is boring. But unless we’re talking about a famous person of epic achievements, whose memoirs aren’t more than a rant about oneself? At least this long rant is educational. I liked reading it. I wasn’t entertained, but I was interested and appreciative and found myself more educated thanks to it.The Kindle version is full of missing periods, by the way.

Amazing book written in Ms Angelou’ s speech pattern. A joyful ride thru the life of a young black child.

No tears, no bends, no smudges. It’s great! Looks just like the copy I read in high school, but brand spankin’ new!

I am surprised why it took me so long before I read this book. I was at a Maya Angelou’s presentation for the first time in 2010 and totally enjoyed it. I have had this book on my reading list for many years. Once I started it, I never stopped. It took only a day to read. The book discusses her life as a young black woman living in rural Arkansas, her time with her mother in St. Louis where she will get raped by her mother’s boyfriend, her return to Stamps, Arkansas and her eventual move to California where she spent some time with her mother. The book chronicles the life of a young woman who defied all odds and progressed in life. She could have easily become a statistic. Even when she became pregnant at 16, she soldiered on and graduated high school. Unfortunately this account ends with the birth of her son at the age of 16. However, she has other autobiographies that supplement this and are also a must read. I strongly recommend this book to all those who want to learn something about race in American south in the 40s and 50s.

Book came quick and unharmed. Amazing book, highly recommended!

I purchased this beautiful book for a friend’s birthday, not only for its beautifully written and deeply moving content but because it’s actually considered a banned book!!

After I finished reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I had the same feelings of sadness, anger, and even guilt, that I experienced after reading Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Maya Angelou, like Toni Morrison paints written pictures of some of the individual psychological costs of dehumanizing an entire group of people. The costs of this kind of systemic racism for our entire society are hard for me to fully grasp. I imagine the process is a lot like grief. Perhaps the most important part of that analogy is that I do not think things improve simply by pretending they did not happen.

Integration of senses and sensations, simplicity and strength. A tale of growing up Black and female and poor redundantly, while living in the U.S.

My daughter needed this for a book report and of course she was under the gun to get it done on time–amazon to the rescue! it arrived overnight and the book report was not late –thx!!

Here’s my review on one of the three books that I’ve read by Maya Angelou:I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings:Smiling Through SadnessMaya Angelou’s first memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, captures the sweetest, purest, and the most honest inner voice of a black child who grew up to be a heroine. Dr. Angelou does not censor anything; She wants us to know it all. It is so true, straightforward, and uncensored that many white parents have attempted to ban this book from schools. This memorable and mysterious autobiography – originally published in 1969 – was followed by another masterpiece entitled: Gather Together In My Name. Both books are available in audio format recorded by Random House Audio. It is amazing that we can hear Dr. Angelou reading her own books to us just like a grandmother putting us to sleep with her adventurous bed-time stories.Dr. Maya Angelou, who has been honored and awarded numerous times, is a pure soul writing about the evil world of the racist America keeping a matching voice on each chapter of her life. When she is writing about her experiences as a five-year-old, you hear a five-year-old talking to you. Being one of the most recognized public figures and a civil rights movement’s heroine, Maya Angelou, gives us a poetic journey of how a poor disadvantaged black girl was rejected by everyone including her own mother, raped by her mother’s boyfriend, and had to witness his crippled uncle hiding under a pile of onions and potatoes to be protected from racist white beasts on a regular basis. The good news is that the story of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings does not end here. This bird sings her heart out until the cage breaks and she becomes our national treasure.This powerful modern American classis has changed many readers’ (and listeners’) hearts and minds in a way that every great work of literature should. This book became the best-seller immediately after it was published. What added to my personal itch to read this book when I was first introduced to it was the fact that Dr. Angelou has described William Shakespeare as one of her strongest influence on her life and works. Shakespeare is my all-time favorite “pennist.”Buy it, read it, keep it, reread it, highlight it, talk about it, advertise it, buy more of it and give it out as a gift, learn from it, and apply what you’ve learned from it in your daily life. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is coming from a heart and soul of someone who had to witness the unnecessary, harsh, and brutal insults that no ordinary human being can bear. Maya Angelou writes the story of a human who was pushed to her limits by the ugliness of this world and while being in a saddest cage, sang the happiest song. Once precious Maya Angelou told her younger generation that seem to be unable to cope with the racism in the past and present:“You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.”

Wonderful. I really don’t know what to say. Maybe I fear saying much as a white woman. I can say that I related to many experiences as a woman and that I held back from crying many times (only because the large majority was spent listening to the audio while driving my daily commute) over the injustices she portrayed.I did not know much about Maya Angelou before reading this first book in her autobiography. I had read some of her poetry and used it in my lessons as an English teacher. When I began, I really didn’t even know that this was an autobiography. I just knew that it was a popular book, and as such, I should read it. I try not to think too much about what books are about when they are on so many lists of popular books to read. If it is so widely acclaimed, then I should find some experience contained therein helpful to me in understanding others.I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is not the first book that has helped me to understand the struggles faced by African Americans, and certainly not the first book I’ve read concerning women’s issues. It is the first non-fiction book on the matter though, not counting a biography of Louis Armstrong that I read the summer before 9th grade for summer reading about which I have forgotten almost everything. Angelou’s book reads like fiction, however, which suits me perfectly since it is what I prefer. The knowledge that it is non-fiction, though, set a different tone while I read. I could easily detach myself from books like The Help knowing that it is a work of fiction, purely for entertainment value (though, of course, there is something to be learned). The realism of the book – the honesty of hindsight, the awareness of youth, ignorance, and innocence – brought gravity to a tale that was not a tale. It was still tall, however.Through this book, I became a little more aware that my own life has been safe and sheltered. I knew this before, but reading about another’s life reminded me that lives interesting enough for others to read about are fraught with difficulties. My own life might not be glamorous or even memorable, but in a way, that is comforting. This does not stop me from wanting to change anything, though. In my own small ways, I hope to lead a life that makes others’ lives more full of joy than of hate. I hope to show those who have experienced even a small portion of the injustices that Angelou faced that times have changed, even (hopefully not “at least”) for a white woman from The South.

On reading about Maya Angelous’s childhood you learn about how upbringing and the perspective of a young African American girl in post slavery times. You learn about the troubles someone like her can be susceptible to and the progression of a young girl to adulthood, dealing with trauma and overcoming obstacles as an intelligent young girl. I’d say it’s a peace of art to be read to enjoy the works of a real soul. A sweet soul telling the journey of her ascent as a brilliant women. Her writing is soothing and calming and can make even the angriest person at ease. A natural poet.

I never had the chance to read Maya’s book and have been told many times that it is a very heart-felt story. Not only that she was such a deep Poet, writer, and so much more. There was so emotion it was raw, riveting, sad, and powerful all in one. Everyone has a story and I’m glad I finally had a chance to read for myself. Such an amazing woman phenomenal she is and her spirit lives on. An extraordinary gift she had and her brilliant words, to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud as triumphant as that is leaves it left a footprint all around the walls of our hearts forever.

My go to for Dr. Maya Angelou

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, is a Memoir by Maya Angelou. Like my book, The Real Wakandas of Africa, this book discusses racism in America. The book brilliantly engages the reader with the kind yet honest voice of the author as you experience her life from a child to African American icon. Her memoir is brutally honest and will grip you as you turn through its pages. This book is also available in audio format and were read by Maya Angelou. While she was alive, I had the pleasure of hearing her speak. Her cadence will grab you. Her words will make you think, and you will walk away a different person from this book. I can personally say that after hearing her speak, I was inspired to write some of my first conscious poetry which I continue today in podcast form. She will take you on a journey through her childhood and her life as a poet. Like this book, I also discuss racism in my book The Real Wakandas of Africa. However, I detail the beauty of African history before slavery and colonialism. Prior to slavery and European colonialism Africans built the tallest building in the world which stood as the tallest building for more than 4000 years. Africans performed surgery on the eye to remove cataracts 700 years ago, and conducted cesarean sections in Central Africa with antiseptics hundreds of years before they were performed in Europe or America. They smelted carbon steel 2000 years before Americans or Europeans knew about this process. In the field of astronomy, they charted star systems for hundreds of years before they were uncovered by American telescopes. Africans also built the longest wall in the world for which I also wrote a book called: The Great Wall of Africa: The Empire of Benin’s 10,000 Mile Long Wall. Unfortunately, this history has been ignored by books that discuss racism, and the exclusion of this contributes to the misunderstanding of Black history. Maya Angelou inspired me to in so many ways. She has inspired me to become a poet and author. Her book will keep you engaged and on the edge of your seat! Pick up your copy of her book today!

This story of the author’s childhood is beautifully told with honesty, dignity and hope. While some scenes are intense and painful, all shine through the eyes of this bright child who views the world, even at its harshest, with wonder. The chapter describing her graduation from eighth grade encompasses all of these emotions: the joy of a child who has a achieved a valued goal and is being recognized as a ‘star’ by her community, only to be told by a crass political speaker that she and her kind have no hope to excel beyond their position as dictated by their race; followed by a realization that the pride and defiance of their very survival has made them strong enough to give lie to his claims.While The Caged Bird has the attraction of most good childhood autobiographies, showing through young eyes how someone can overcome the worst kind of adversity and thrive, it has another dimension as well. The author reports with dignified distance on the events of her childhood, but not without critical judgement. In the course of telling her story, she also give insight into her culture and the reasons behind it.Beyond the wonderful style, it’s a worthwhile and enlightening read.

Words cannot express how truly wonderful I found this book to be. I have long admired Maya Angelou but had not read her autobiography. I grew up in the segregated South as a white child with black and white friends. I was appalled when people driving by our house yelled slurs at our black guests–the did not come back to visit us again. There was no violence in our little mountain town but when I went to college, I saw it firsthand in the community around our school. Dr. Angelou’s book gave me a similar view from the other side of the conflict. I have been profoundly moved and amazed that such a repressed upbringing could grow a poet and thinker of such genius and stature. How many more there must have been who did not make it, and how much did we lose in the process? Read this book and count your blessings.

It is a wonderful tale of life. Each page is full of magical language and insights everyone should read this book

An excellent read about the early life of this great writer and poet. I knew nothing of her turmoil growing up. She writes freely about being raped as a child, living in the South as a Black young girl and her adventures living between father, mother and grandmother. And her sisterly love for her brother. North and South ,hatred and love, Black and White. You won’t put this down.