Angelou follows up this barrage of disparaging phrases by saying that 'But still, like air, I'll rise'. The use of the phrase “cut me with your eyes” is important as it further supports this idea and showcases how the way men look upon women can be threatening and is often highly disparaging. These quotes illustrate extreme gender prejudice and can be linked with the idea that men typically look upon women in a sexual manner and in essence objectify women as only sexual objects rather than a human being. Nonetheless, Angelou herself faced severe gender prejudice this is exemplified when she boldly states that 'You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness'. Across the progression of human civilisation, only recently have women been able to gain equality within society and within the private sphere. There is a recurring theme in “Still I Rise” is that she “still rises” no matter what she's faced with. ![]() She went on to publish five more books in her autobiographical series, ending with A Song Flung Up to Heaven in 2002.One way Angelou presents power through a feminist lens is when she displays determination when faced with difficulties from society. When she finished her groundbreaking work, Angelou realized her life story had ended at 17. "The truth is that he had talked to James Baldwin, my brother friend, and Jimmy told him that 'if you want Maya Angelou to do something, tell her she can't do it.'" "I said, 'Well, hmmm, maybe I'll try it.'" Angelou recalls. Her editor requested several times that she write an autobiography, but Angelou always declined.Īngelou says author James Baldwin, whom she considers a brother, had a covert hand in getting her to write "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Acting on Baldwin's advice, Angelou's editor tried a little reverse psychology and told her that writing an autobiography as literature was "almost impossible" and she shouldn't even attempt it. She started writing at age 8 or 9, during a years-long, self-imposed silence after she was raped by her mother's boyfriend.Ī voracious reader, she eventually was urged to publish her work as an adult. The just-released biographical tribute traces Angelou's life and career with archival photographs and notes from her writings.Īngelou's foremost passion was always writing, even during her early days as a singer and dancer, and her activism alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Long, and her niece Rosa Johnson Butler have written a book in her honor titled Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration. Angelou, whose books of essays and poetry have sold millions of copies, was an inspirational figure long before her acclaimed memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published in 1969.įor her 80th birthday, on April 4, her longtime friends Marcia Ann Gillespie and Richard A. Though she feels she sometimes needs to remind God she's still around, the rest of the world needs no prompting. ![]() "When I try to describe myself to God I say, 'Lord, remember me? Black? Female? Six-foot tall? The writer?' And I almost always get God's attention," Angelou tells NPR's Lynn Neary with a laugh. 19, 1993, at Bill Clinton's first inauguration.Īs she turns 80, the celebrated author, poet and artist Maya Angelou says she has figured out how to get divine attention. ![]() Angelou delivers her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" on Jan.
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