Friday, 9 May 2025
  • My Feed
  • My Interests
  • My saves
  • History
Subscribe
latest trending news latest trending news
  • Home
  • Politics
    white supremacy on everyone

    White Scholars as Authorities

    By Joe Boateng
    How a Flood of Cheap Clothes Is Destroying the Local Fashion Industry

    8 Ways Ghana’s Second hand Clothing Market Is Out of Control

    By Joe Boateng
    biden apology for native american

    Biden’s Apology for Native American Boarding Schools Interrupted by Protester Linking Genocides

    By Joe Boateng
    isreal-and-palestine-conlict-explained

    The Real Reason Behind the 2023 Israel-Palestine War

    By Joe Boateng
    imperialism

    Underdevelopment And Imperialism In The Third World

    By Joe Boateng
    A Treaty of Traitors

    A Treaty of Traitors: Environmental Sacrifice Under USMCA 

    By Leticia Macias
  • History
    a history of american influence in latin america

    US-backed Right Wing Military Coups in Latin America

    By Joe Boateng
    the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

    Tuskegee Syphilis Study: The Horrors African American Men Endured for Science

    By Lizzy Nana
    Human Skin Tone

    Study Reveals Human Skin Tone Has Varied Over 900,000 Years

    By Lizzy Nana
    map of africa with ethnic boundaries

    The Hidden Secrets Behind the Map of Africa with Ethnic Boundaries – Discover 3 Points of What You’ve Been Missing!

    Sponsored by
    enyienyi
    slave mentality

    Exploring the Roots of the Slave Mentality: Phallicism, Genocidal Violence, Homoeroticism and Rape in the Jewish Holocaust and Jim Crow Amerikkka

    By Joe Boateng
    colonial slave trade

    The Impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade on the African Continent and its Diaspora

    By Joe Boateng
  • Shop
  • User
    • Profile
    • My Subscription
    • Member Login
      • Password Reset
    • Join Us
  • 🔥
  • Politics
  • History
  • Economy
  • Resources
  • Science
  • Stories
  • Review
  • Explainer
  • Opinion
Donate - Communites Need You - To Empower!
latest trending news news today
Subscribe
  • GET FREE TRIAL
  • My Saves
  • My Interests
  • My Feed
  • My History
  • Books
  • Politics
  • Resources
  • Economy
  • History
  • Science
  • Latest News
  • Contact
Search
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Politics
    • Resources
    • Economy
    • History
    • Science
  • More
    • My saves
    • My Interests
    • My Feed
    • History
    • Contact
    • Latest News
    • Shop Collection

Shop

Shoes

Lagos City Drip

€119.85
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Shoes

Casablanca Trek

€119.85
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Shoes

Banjul

€119.85
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Shoes

Kigali

€119.85
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2024 Decolonizd. All Rights Reserved.
maya angelou - about african american author
History

About African American Author – Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou Quotes

Farah Hufan
Last updated: September 26, 2023 2:47 pm
Farah Hufan
Share
Disclosure: This is viewer supported news. Please do your part today. Subscribe.
SHARE

On May 28th, 2014, one of the most influential writers of our time, Maya Angelou, passed away in North Carolina, USA, at the age of 86. Primarily well-known for her poems that have a universal appeal, Maya left the world a wealth of knowledge that continues to impact lives across the human divide. She addresses topics usually shunned by many authors in her works, identifying and becoming a voice for the downtrodden masses of humanity. She mainly came strong on slavery, racial discrimination, and identity.

Contents
Maya: A Life of Resilience, Activism, and Literary TriumphMaya Angelou’s Poetic Mastery: An Analysis of ‘Still, I Rise’ and ‘When Great Trees Fall’Maya Angelou: A Voice for Equality and a Literary Titan

Maya was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but soon moved to Arkansas to live with her  grandmother after her parents divorced. Maya experienced the Jim Crow Laws in Arkansas  that denied the black community equal rights with white compatriots in a deeply segregated  society. But the killing of her sexual molester, allegedly by her uncle in Chicago, turned  Maya’s life upside down. She had been visiting Chicago when her mother’s boyfriend  sexually violated her. Shaken, she kept the incident to herself, but later, she confided to her  brother.

The killing of her attacker sent Maya into psychological devastation and trauma, and for the next five years, she became voiceless, never uttering a word to anyone. Joining the Labor School in San Francisco, where she studied drama lessons after receiving a scholarship, shifted her life into becoming a soaring woman who gained a different perception.

Hufan Farah

Maya: A Life of Resilience, Activism, and Literary Triumph

From her early years, Maya proved to be an individualist, trying all sorts of jobs, ranging  from music and prostitution to catering and recipe writing. She also experienced single  motherhood and divorce. These harsh realities of her early life shaped Maya into the human  rights critic she later became. 

- Advertisement -
shop local mango butter creamshop local mango butter cream

The thirst to write and create a world that resonates with her life inside Maya became  stronger until she joined the Writers Guild in New York, where she interacted with many  rising black writers. Influenced by the spirit of Pan-Africanism, she moved to Egypt, where  she worked as a newspaper editor, and later to Ghana, serving at the University of Ghana and  writing for the Ghanaian Broadcasting Corporation. 

In 1964, Maya returned to America after being captivated by the civil rights movements of  great activists such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Junior. Still, mournfully after both  leaders were assassinated, she wrote to deluge her sorrow for their deaths. Maya’s works cut across several genres, including autobiographies, poems, short stories, and  essays, many considered controversial. For instance, her first autobiography, ‘I Know Why  the Caged Bird Sings,’ was considered for banning by the American Library Association due  to language and being too explicit in portraying rape and other sexual abuse. In addition, the  Alabama State Textbook Committee declared it to encourage “bitterness and hatred towards  white people. Yet, her unapologetic and radical views on sensitive interracial issues made her  stand out amongst her contemporaries and gained her international following and admiration.  As a result, she was in high demand as a professor of English Literature and highly sought  after by many prestigious educational institutions. 

Maya Angelou
MAYA ANGELOU

More Read

post colonialism
On the Decolonial Bandwagon
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
Native American Myths
Ethnology and Migration of Black People
Controlled Opposition

Maya Angelou’s Poetic Mastery: An Analysis of ‘Still, I Rise’ and ‘When Great Trees Fall’

In one of her most famous poems, ‘Still, I Rise,’ Maya successfully uses many figurative  linguistic devices to drive her point home. The poem is themed around the suffering of the 

black race during the Jim Crow days. She uses the words twisted lies to refer to the attempts  of the former enslavers to legitimize slavery by trying to hide in their documentation of  history the facts about the slavery era. When she says, ‘Trod me in the very dirt,’ she is  metaphorizing the dishonorable place in society accorded the enslaved Black people and the  attempts of their white masters to keep them down. ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’ is a  colloquial rhetorical question that suggests that the white master never wants to see the  enslaved Black person happy. ‘Like I’ve got wells’ is a simile that shows how confident the  enslaved Black person is, despite all the oppression. ‘Moons and suns’ referring to the  heavenly bodies show her love for African ancestry. ‘Bowed head and lowered eyes’  symbolizes the shame and servitude the white master wanted to see on the enslaved Black  people. ‘Like teardrops’ is a simile that stands for hopelessness as an aim of slavery. ‘Shoot,’  ‘Cut,’ and ‘Kill’ signify the tools of violence used upon the black race by the white  community. She uses the alliteration ‘Huts of history’ to refer to the slave trade, which  brought black people to America. The metaphor “I’m a black ocean” concerns her skin color  and rich history. ‘I rise’ is repeated throughout the poem and becomes the mantra or the  driving force for African Americans in those difficult times. ‘Nights of terror and fear’ in the  verse refers to the suffering meted out to the black community by racist groups like the Ku  Klux Klan. “I am the dream” is a metaphor and could refer to the American dream or Martin  Luther King Junior’s pursuit of freedom and equality in America. 

Another example of Maya’s outstanding style can be seen in the poem ‘When Great Trees  Fall’ in which she describes her healing process after two great heroes, Malcolm X and  Martin Luther King Junior, were assassinated. The poem is a mixture of metaphor and  personification, which effectively brings out not only the physical and psychological loss  brought about by the death of a great leader but also the hope and optimism that such deaths  bring to the loved ones left behind.

MAYA ANGELOU YOUTH
mAYA aNGELOU

- Advertisement -
shop local rose body oilshop local rose body oil

Maya Angelou: A Voice for Equality and a Literary Titan

In the other poem, ‘Equality,’ Maya addresses the theme of discrimination, not only between  the races but also between the human genders. The poem suggests a lack of understanding  between the races and genders, which brings about the evils of human ownership and  slavery. 

Maya received many prestigious awards for her extraordinary contribution to the literary world, including the Medal of Freedom and the American Academy of Achievement’s  Golden Plate, with many of her books translated into different languages. Her works have  become crucial parts of academic curricula in several countries worldwide. Her poem ‘Still, I  Rise’ is amongst the set pieces in the current GCSE English Anthology. Several American  presidents appointed her to serve in different government capacities. Her face was chosen,  alongside others, to appear on the reverse side of the American quarter coin as an honor to  celebrate American women’s outstanding achievements.

TAGGED:about african american authorBlack Peopleblack pioneersEducationHistorymaya angeloumaya angelou quotes
Share This Article
Email Copy Link Print
ByFarah Hufan
Follow:
Contributing insightful articles to a prominent website, I delve into the deep-seated impacts of colonial legacies.
Previous Article unlistened voices Beyond Shadows: The Unlistened Voices of Minority Women
Next Article microfiction Microfiction – WAS I JUST A TOOL OR MORE?
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Unlock Exclusive Content

Receive Timely Updates, Expert Opinions, and Behind-the-Scenes Insights. Subscribe to Our Newsletter and Never Miss a Beat in Today's Fast-Paced World!
FacebookLike
XFollow
InstagramFollow
TiktokFollow
PayPalSend
- Advertisement -
shea buttershea butter

Popular Posts

The Tug of War for House Leadership As US Republicans fight over next leader

In the wake of a significant leadership shakeup, the Republican Party is navigating turbulent waters…

By Joe Boateng

The Rise and Impact of Christianity in Africa: A Complex Tapestry of Faith and Culture

Unraveling the Complex Fabric of African Christianity

By Joe Boateng

Iran fires over 300 drones, missiles at Israel

Iran claims it conducted the attack as retaliation for an Israeli strike on its consulate…

By Joe Boateng

You Might Also Like

small business owners
History

Decolonization as a Catalyst for Small Business Solutions: Addressing Challenges Head-On

By Joe Boateng
neocolonialism
History

Kwame Nkrumah: A Beacon of African Liberation and His Monumental Accomplishments

Sponsored by
enyienyi
nigerian living in america
History

Growing up Nigerian & American 

By Darlene Adesuwa
turkey
History

Turkey and the End of the Ottoman Empire

By Joe Boateng
latest trending news latest trending news
Instagram Tiktok

About US

 

Live News: Stay informed with the latest in global news 24/7 and enrich your mind with our diverse selection of thought-provoking books. Explore the world through words at decolonizd – where current events meet literary excellence.

Top Categories
  • GET FREE TRIAL
  • My Saves
  • My Interests
  • My Feed
  • My History
  • Books
  • Politics
  • Resources
  • Economy
  • History
  • Science
  • Latest News
  • Contact
Usefull Links
  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Manage Cookies
  • Terms and Conditions
  • About Us

© Decolonizd. All Rights Reserved.

Join Us!
Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, stories & articles.

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.