Maya Angelou's Contribution To The Civil Rights Movement

had her feeling many different emotions leading to her big day. “I had taken to smiling more

Words might not cut a person’s skin or break his bones, but with all certainty they are not harmless. They can cause immediate pain or bring instant joy; they trigger emotional responses faster than any other senses can. At the beginning of “Graduation Day,” Maya Angelou sounds similar to any other graduate: anxious, excited, and ready to move on to the next step in her life. However, a speech by Edward Donleavy, a white man, unintentionally pointed out the people of the Negro race did not have the same opportunities as the white people. The power of his words causes Angelou to cast a negative outlook on her Negro identity and to lose her faith in all of humanity. Although people often think words go unnoticed or without consequence, demeaning words with a powerful connotation harm a person’s self-worth.

Maya Angelou was a strong African-American women who made an influential impact on the Civil Rights Movement, in bother her actions, and her literature. Her life experiences and courage helped others, and made her work influential.

Born poor and black, she was a childhood victim of rape, shamed into silence. She was a young single mother who had to work at strip clubs for a living. Growing up in the 1930s as an African American was not a walk in the park. Angelou had to

Maya Angelou philosophy and teachings are timeless. There is a lesson to be learned in her more than 30 published works and her lessons taught as a professor and lecturer. More important she lived what she preached. She had a strong belief in humanity as a whole, in the human spirit and in the African American community. She fought tirelessly to change extinguish racism, prejudice and discrimination during a time when she herself as a black woman experienced its effects. The hardships that she faced during her lifetime and eventually overcame were done with a positive grace which became an inspiration to people around the world. Through her written words and inspirational speeches she was able to lead people in a positive directions . She moved forward as a beacon that showed love and wisdom. Angelou wanted to teach her audience truth about the hardships in life but also show them that there was great value in seeing the joy that life can bring and that there is a need to appreciate those who surround

“Today, Michelle and I join millions around the world in remembering one of the brightest lights of our time – a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman.” (Online - White House). This memorial statement, by Barack Obama in 2014, encompasses how many felt towards Maya Angelou, one of the most influential writers and voices of her generation. Over the course of her lifetime, Maya Angelou was awarded over 50 honorary degrees and received the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Angelou’s personal admiration and self-love that is reflected in her poetic works, specifically, “Phenomenal Woman,” is credited to the overcoming of her traumatic childhood and her work in activism.

In “Graduation” by Maya Angelou, it shows Angelou’s experiences as a black student in the 1940s. In “The Problem We All Live With” by This American Life, Mah’Ria Pruitt-Martin’s experiences as a black during the 2000s was very similar to Angelou’s experiences. Angelou went to Lafayette Country Training School, which was the black school. Pruitt-Martin went to Normandy, which was the worst district in the area. She was trying to transfer to a better school. Both Maya Angelou and Mah’Ria Pruitt-Martin had bad high school experiences because their schools had little resources for education and people didn’t

Angelou lived through a period in the late 1900’s where segregation was harsh for African-Americans. There were many KKK threats, disrespective harassments, and a growing idea that white people were more superior. Having to live through the whole World War II as a child, she has experience through the struggles of finding jobs (Ball).

Her life was not an easy one but she overcame adversity and created some of the most beautiful pieces of literature, as well as poetry, of the 20th century. Her works prove that you may come from a horrible background but you are able to become someone worth something in the eyes of society. Maya Angelou wanted equality for all and therefor fought alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Right Movement of the 60’s. Mr. King dies on her birthday and she was devastated… in an interview she stated that his sense of fairplay as well as his eye for what justice should have been is something he instilled in her.

Some authors have the special ability to create pieces of literature that have an everlasting effect on their readers, simply through the words of their writing. Mark Shriver and Maya Angelou are perfect examples of such authors. Mark Shiver wrote an inspirational biography of his father, Sargent Striver, and his many accomplishments in his novel, A Good Man. Maya Angelou, a civil rights activist and author, writes about overcoming constant abuse based on her race in her poem, “Still I Rise.” Both, Mark Shriver’s novel and Maya Angelou’s poem, are empowering pieces of writing that represent Marywood University’s core value, Excellence.

The German philosopher Nietzsche once said, “That which does not kill us, make us stronger”, and in many instances this is exactly the case. In most every instance of tragedy or hardship, the people affected must either yield to or rise above their situation, and in rising above, develop or display extraordinary and exemplary traits uniquely fitted to dealing with that situation. As a result, without adversity, these talents would be left unused. There are instances in which people crack under the pressure or sink to the expectations of their situation, but, depending on the character of the person involved, they may take the situation and use it to better themselves. It is a unique opportunity to utilize or develop traits that often remain

Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou were African Americans alive during the period in American history when minority groups were fighting hard for their rights and respect among the country. These two authors used their writing skill to shed light on how African Americans felt throughout this period of time, opening many people’s eyes to how the oppressed truly felt. The civil rights movement could have had an entirely different outcome if it weren’t outspoken individuals such as these two.

Maya Angelou speaks not only for herself, but a voice of entire nation, gender and race. She uses her gift of writing to inspire people. She has a confident voice that gives off a sense of strength and empowerment. “Out of the huts of history I rise” she rises above the negativity in her life and in her surroundings. The outcome of her success through struggle as an African-American woman proves that it is okay to speak the truth about how they feel no matter who they are because people will listen and they may one day be the voice of a

Maya Angelou was a poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven books about herself, three of them were book of essays, and the rest was poetry which was credited with a list of plays movies, and television shows. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, and on May 28, 2014. She attended George Washington High School, and California Labor School. Maya was a great lady known for her acclaimed memoir. Maya Angelou had a rough childhood, her parents were divorced and she and her brother were sent to go live with their grandfather on the mom side. She experiences racial at firsthand and she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend, for her being harass her uncle killed her mother boyfriend and the experience of being harass made her

A work of Maya Angelou was deeply influenced by her early life due to what happened at this time of her life. When she was seven she went to Chicago, Illinois to visit her mother since she lived with her brother at her paternal grandmother’s house. While visiting her mother in this time, her mother’s boyfriend raped her. Too afraid to tell anyone, Maya Angelou told her brother and in result her brother told their uncles. Their uncles killed her mother’s boyfriend out of rage, and this made Maya Angelou mute for five years until she met someone very important; Mrs. Flowers.