mass market paperback, 304 pages
Published April 21, 2009 by Ballantine Books.
She was born Marguerite, but her brother Bailey nicknamed her Maya ("mine"). As little children they were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Their early world revolved around this remarkable woman and the Store she ran for the black community. White people were more than strangers - they were from another planet. And yet, even unseen they ruled.
The Store was a microcosm of life: its orderly pattern was a comfort, even among the meanest frustrations. But then came the intruders - first in the form of taunting poorwhite children who were bested only by the grandmother's dignity. But as the awful, unfathomable mystery of prejudice intruded, so did the unexpected joy of a surprise visit by Daddy, the sinful joy of going to Church, the disappointments of a Depression Christmas.
A visit to St. Louis and the Most Beautiful Mother in the World ended in tragedy …
She was born Marguerite, but her brother Bailey nicknamed her Maya ("mine"). As little children they were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Their early world revolved around this remarkable woman and the Store she ran for the black community. White people were more than strangers - they were from another planet. And yet, even unseen they ruled.
The Store was a microcosm of life: its orderly pattern was a comfort, even among the meanest frustrations. But then came the intruders - first in the form of taunting poorwhite children who were bested only by the grandmother's dignity. But as the awful, unfathomable mystery of prejudice intruded, so did the unexpected joy of a surprise visit by Daddy, the sinful joy of going to Church, the disappointments of a Depression Christmas.
A visit to St. Louis and the Most Beautiful Mother in the World ended in tragedy - rape. Thereafter Maya refused to speak, except to the person closest to her, Bailey. Eventually, Maya and Bailey followed their mother to California. There, the formative phase of her life (as well as this book) comes to a close with the painful discovery of the true nature of her father, the emergence of a hard-won independence and - perhaps most important - a baby, born out of wedlock, loved and kept.
Superbly told, with the poet's gift for language and observation, and charged with the unforgetable emotion of remembered anguish and love - this remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black girl from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant.
"Era horrível ser negra e não ter controle sobre a minha vida. Era brutal ser jovem e já estar treinada para ficar sentada em silêncio ouvindo as acusações feitas contra a minha cor sem chance de defesa."
a obra traz uma visão nítida das relações raciais no período entreguerras e ensina como a voz pode transformar um mundo injusto.
The beauty and utility of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" comes from its frankness. And I do mean exactly that. It's poesy comes from Maya's courage to say what needs to be said and it is useful in that this frankness allows for a sort of understanding that permits useful discussion on tough topics.
What is the purpose of the book? On the surface, it is a string of recollections from the childhood of Maya Angelou. This, of course, is merely a vehicle for analyzing what it was like growing up in a racist atmosphere and the culture that resulted from the segregation that discrimination formed. It clarifies why some cultural development took place and why certain assumptions of the white man are inaccurate and hurtful.
I believe that it is because of this frankness on the topic of racism as well as rape that this …
The beauty and utility of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" comes from its frankness. And I do mean exactly that. It's poesy comes from Maya's courage to say what needs to be said and it is useful in that this frankness allows for a sort of understanding that permits useful discussion on tough topics.
What is the purpose of the book? On the surface, it is a string of recollections from the childhood of Maya Angelou. This, of course, is merely a vehicle for analyzing what it was like growing up in a racist atmosphere and the culture that resulted from the segregation that discrimination formed. It clarifies why some cultural development took place and why certain assumptions of the white man are inaccurate and hurtful.
I believe that it is because of this frankness on the topic of racism as well as rape that this book has been criticized for being required reading in some high schools. I believe that such criticism is evidence that books like "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" are needed in our society and ought to be required reading. I wish I was required to read it in high school.
