23. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Prompt: book by a person of color
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
My Review:
I've wanted to read this book for quite some time and I'm glad I finally got the chance to. Maya Angelou was a poignant and powerful woman in not only the US, but an inspiration for many around the world.
In this autobiography, Maya tells of her experiences of being a woman of color growing up as a child and adolescent in the South. Dealing with racial prejudice, abandonment, and getting sexually abused, she also told of her insecurities of being African American, as well as her image. For a female, it's quite common for us to question our image at some point in our lives no matter the color of our skin and it's very relatable when you're reading this book (obviously I can't relate to the African American side of it).
There are moments in life where we have to deal with the impact it leaves on us for the rest of our lives. For Maya, it was when she got sexually abused several times as a child. There's a pain and shame involved for victims that Maya had to start dealing with at such a young age. Writing of that time must have been freeing all the emotions of those experiences. In society to this very day, rape and sexual abuse are not really talked about because it's considered to be more or less a taboo topic for several reasons that I'm not going to get into at this time. But I don't think not talking about it really helps those victims to heal and realize that it wasn't their fault.
Maya was a survivor. The way she wrote about her experiences was interesting and poignant. Some parts of her story are relatable to every female. I did appreciate reading about how people of color see things in life. Too often, we see things one-sided when there are two sides to every story. Maya exhibited an incredible strength to write about some of horrific moments in her childhood. But she also wrote about times when she was able to celebrate little things, such as getting a new dress for Church, and you could celebrate those moments with her.
While Maya was going through these experiences and other hard times, she found an escape and comfort in reading (and food as well). I really enjoyed her sharing and describing her favorite books and authors she was reading (like Shakespeare), as I have always loved reading as well. Books have a way of taking you somewhere you can only imagine going to.
Maya exhibited that you can survive and be a role model for others going through similar experiences. I might create another post of some of my favorite quotes from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!
~Meg~
In this autobiography, Maya tells of her experiences of being a woman of color growing up as a child and adolescent in the South. Dealing with racial prejudice, abandonment, and getting sexually abused, she also told of her insecurities of being African American, as well as her image. For a female, it's quite common for us to question our image at some point in our lives no matter the color of our skin and it's very relatable when you're reading this book (obviously I can't relate to the African American side of it).
There are moments in life where we have to deal with the impact it leaves on us for the rest of our lives. For Maya, it was when she got sexually abused several times as a child. There's a pain and shame involved for victims that Maya had to start dealing with at such a young age. Writing of that time must have been freeing all the emotions of those experiences. In society to this very day, rape and sexual abuse are not really talked about because it's considered to be more or less a taboo topic for several reasons that I'm not going to get into at this time. But I don't think not talking about it really helps those victims to heal and realize that it wasn't their fault.
Maya was a survivor. The way she wrote about her experiences was interesting and poignant. Some parts of her story are relatable to every female. I did appreciate reading about how people of color see things in life. Too often, we see things one-sided when there are two sides to every story. Maya exhibited an incredible strength to write about some of horrific moments in her childhood. But she also wrote about times when she was able to celebrate little things, such as getting a new dress for Church, and you could celebrate those moments with her.
While Maya was going through these experiences and other hard times, she found an escape and comfort in reading (and food as well). I really enjoyed her sharing and describing her favorite books and authors she was reading (like Shakespeare), as I have always loved reading as well. Books have a way of taking you somewhere you can only imagine going to.
Maya exhibited that you can survive and be a role model for others going through similar experiences. I might create another post of some of my favorite quotes from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!
~Meg~
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