Maya Angelou Poems

Maya Angelou was an American poet and Civil right activist she did so many things that benifited America as a whole just by poetry. Her background persists in her poems giving them a cultural element. Angelou’s poems have feeling, movement, and power, which made her one of the most popular poets in America. Angelou grew up in Arkansas which was, at the time, segregated. Her poems are based off her culture through location, relationship, and civil independence.

Angelou’s childhood home in Stamps, Arkansas was segregated it was split in two: the white side and, the black side. The white side was you’re simple run-of-the-mill town, but the black side was a poor, grubby town. The rules were that whites could cross to the other side but blacks

When Maya was a child she was unfortunately raped. She told on the raper and the person was killed. Maya thought that it was her fault that the man was killed because she told on him. For the next year Maya never said a single word, until she met This woman was a neighbor who was very divine who wore silk African dresses and hats. One day that woman invited over. Maya to her house to eat tea cookies. When they got to the house Maya said the house was dark and cool like the woman who owned the house. When they got to the house the woman read Maya a poem collection with her smooth, creamy voice. Maya was stunned. After a few poems the woman said “I want you to go home and read this out loud and come back when you can say it all.” Maya was actually frightened about the task of reading this outLoud, so she read under her grandmother's bed so nobody heard her. After reading for a whole month Maya was finally to speak out to the woman and this was the first time she had said a word in a whole year. Now, she could say a whole poem. This was a very important element in her poetry career because she was opened to poetry by this situation. Maya Angelou’s poem reflect how civil independence is good for the soul but, how did Maya get her message out