Maya Angelou’s first autobiographical installment, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is widely considered to be the best of her series of autobiographies. Nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, this work has been a staple of high school reading lists, and banned book lists, for several decades. It is a beautifully written recollection of Angelou’s childhood, from the time she and her older brother were sent alone by train to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother (Angelou was 5) until Angelou, at the age of 16 and living in California with her mother, gave birth to her son. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a reflection on family, racism, the importance of literature in a young child’s life, and learning to find one’s voice in the face of adversity and trauma.
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928. At the age of five, her parents having divorced, Maya and older brother Bailey were sent to live with their paternal grandmother, Momma, in Arkansas. A few years later, their father reappeared and took them to St. Louis to live with their mother and her family. During their short stay in St. Louis, their mother’s boyfriend raped 8-year-old Maya, an event that left her literally speechless. Maya and Bailey returned to Momma’s house for several more years until they moved to San Francisco with their mother. That is a bare bones outline of Maya Angelou’s early years, but of course there is so much more to her story than just bare facts. Maya’s devotion to her brother, her love of literature and the loving care of her grandmother and other members of her community formed her into the kind of person who, even from a young age, could somehow navigate the horrors of racism, the limitations that her race and sex placed upon her, and the tragedy of sexual assault.
From Momma, Maya learned manners and responsibility. Momma owned a store that catered to the Black community, and she managed to keep it going even during the Depression. Momma did her best not just to take care of her own family but also to support the larger community. Momma provided love and security to Maya and Bailey, but this did not insulate the children from the evils of racism and segregation. Bailey was once conscripted to help drag the body of a Black man from the pond. Maya and Momma were refused service at the white dentist’s office despite the fact that Momma had once lent him money to save his practice. When the white sheriff warns Momma that a lynch mob of some of the local “boys” is on the prowl for a victim and that she should hide her son (Uncle Willie, who has a physical disability), Maya recalls,
…he [the sheriff] rode out of the yard, sure that things were as they should be and that he was a gentle squire, saving those deserving serfs from the laws of the land, which he condoned.
Angelou pulls no punches regarding her opinion of the local whites:
…I couldn’t force myself to think of them as people.
At Maya’s 8th grade graduation, an event which she had anticipated with excitement and pride, a local white politician spoke and in a few short moments, robbed the room of its joy. He told the attendees about all the improvements and wonderful new programming that would be introduced to the white schools in Stamps; the “training school” for Black students in Stamps would get a playing field and equipment for the workshops and home economics programs. The lesson was that while white children could expect to become a Galileo or Madame Curie, Black boys could only aspire to become the next Jesse Owens or Joe Louis. Black girls shouldn’t bother dreaming at all.
And yet, despite the formidable forces working against her, Maya managed to hang on to strength and hope, to fight on. After being raped in St. Louis and being unable to speak to anyone except her brother, Maya was introduced to the beautiful Mrs. Flowers in Stamps. Maya was thrilled to have the attention of such a fine lady and delighted that Mrs. Flowers enjoyed reading as much as Maya. It is thanks to her that Maya finds her voice again. Angelou refers throughout her autobiography to the works that were so important to her as a child — the novels of the Bronte sisters and Dickens, for example. After moving to California, Maya became more aware of current events thanks to another teacher, and she developed her love of dance and drama there. As a teen, while she sometimes felt awkward in her own skin, being tall and thin, she also learned confidence and self-reliance; these traits would serve her well on a brief vacation to her father’s place. These qualities also fed Maya’s determination to get a job on the San Francisco street cars, despite the fact that they don’t hire people of color.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is full of powerful stories of Maya Angelou’s life. The reader can see that in her childhood, Angelou embodied a surprising combination of qualities that would seem to be at odds with one another: she was tender-hearted but determined; she loved and appreciated the quiet and old-fashioned life that Momma provided but was also curious and open to the excitements of city life and her mother’s more modern lifestyle. She was aware of the “tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power.” One of my favorite quotes from the book:
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.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings remains an important and relevant book about race in America and the struggles that people of color, especially women, have had to endure. How much has changed, if we’re honest? Perhaps now more than ever, students should be reading and discussing this book and listening to those who have to keep reminding us that their lives matter.
