Presentation of the problem of racial and gender equality
in Maya Angelou′s poetry

von: Kathrin Gerbe

Table of contents

1. Introduction 4

1.1. Background information on Maya Angelou  4
1.2. Social and political context of the Civil Rights Movement  4

2. The problem of racial and gender equality in Maya Angelou’s poetry 5

2.1. Integration of the topic “Race” into Angelou’s work  5
2.2. Presentation of the topic “equality” in Angelou’s poetry  6

2.2.1. Analysis of “Equality”  6
2.2.2. Analysis of “Caged bird”  10

3. Conclusion  13

Bibliography  15

Appendix 16

1. Introduction

1.1. Background information on Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born as Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. As an African-American she grew up with segregation. Her (ethnic) origin and personal experience strongly influence her conception of art and writing. Partly for that reason her central topics are racism and the emancipation of black women in the USA. But her fight against the injustice of discrimination is not restricted on poetry. She worked at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which she was called to as a Northeaster Regional Coordinator by Martin Luther King Jr.

She is popular for her writings and her commitment in the Civil Rights Movement; as an actress, producer and director. Furthermore she has taught on several colleges. She has lived in Africa, Europe and America and was one of the first Black women who became successful artists. Her most famous work is her five-volume autobiography, starting with “I know why the caged bird sings” which gives an account of her childhood. Her writing is influenced by the works of Black poets of the Harlem Renaissance1 like James Weldon Johnson and the 19th century like Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Further inspiration she gets from William Shakespeare’s writing. 1.2. Social and political context of the Civil Rights Movement The first Blacks in America had been brought over as slaves from Africa in the 17th century and had to work in the fields and factories of the Whites. When slavery was abolished in 1865, African-American men got the citizenship of the USA (1868) and even the right to vote (1870). Their children were allowed to go to school. In the same time, organizations like the Ku Klux Klan were formed by Whites opposed to the freedom of the Blacks in order to threaten and intimidate them. Already twenty years later the rights granted to the Blacks were restricted by a new system of laws, which were later known as “Jim Crow laws”. These laws regulated racial discrimination, mostly in the South of the USA. They were a concept of legal segregation and intended among other things separate schools, public conveniences, benches, train and restaurant seating for Blacks and Whites. Marriage between partners of different races was forbidden. These laws were valid until the 1960s. The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), was founded in 1909. It consisted of white and coloured Americans and organised nonviolent protests and sit-ins in order to achieve political and social rights for Blacks. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the African-Americans hope for a better future and became leader of the movement. His primary aims were the vote for all Blacks, desegregation, a better educational system and housing, as the Blacks in the cities mostly lived in ghettos. The base to achieve this aims was a new self-confidence and identity drawn from African heritage and history. It was in this time, that the Black Americans started proudly calling themselves “African-Americans” or “Afro-Americans”. A first step towards equality was made in 1957 by a court decision that declared segregation in public schools unjust. A further step was taken when the Congress created a Commission on Civil Rights in the same year. In 1960, federal mediators were appointed to help the Blacks with registering for and voting in elections. But these decisions did not change the minds of the people, who had lived in segregated society for a long time.

Especially between 1957 and 1965 the Civil Rights Movement was active and parallel to the NAACP militant movements like the Black Panther Party and the Black Muslims were established. They aimed at achieving independence from the Whites going along with a radical racist attitude. After the Civil Rights Act in 1964, that prohibited discrimination in employment and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was to grant a certain quota of ethnic minorities in all American companies, life of the African- Americans still did not change much. Even today, discrimination is still an issue.

2. The problem of racial and gender equality in Maya Angelou’s poetry

2.1. Integration of the topic “Race” into Angelou’s work

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1 Harlem Renaissance: Literary movement in the 1920s. The writers used folk material and forms like e.g. spirituals, blues and ballads in their works. These were meant to be source of black identity. The artist should not wish to be white, but realize that not only black culture but also he is beautiful.