To celebrate Blank History Month with a literary twist, I thought I could focus this week on the amazing Maya Angelou, who I personally discovered in my early teens. Angelou was born April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri and died in 2014. She was an American author, actress, screenwriter, poet and civil rights activist but is perhaps best known for her 1969 memoir, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, which made literary history as the first non-fiction bestseller by an African American woman.
Angelou had a turbulent childhood and when she was just eight years old, she stopped speaking. This was apparently because she thought her voice had killed a man! For almost five years, she spoke to no one but her beloved brother, Bailey. She only started to talk again when she was thirteen.
But why is Maya Angelou so important to black history? Her writings are widely used in schools and universities around the world. ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ was the first of seven instalments of her autobiography, but she also wrote seven children’s books including the beautifully illustrated ‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’ and vast amounts of poetry. As an icon of black culture, her work is viewed as a mainstay of African-American culture and is often cited for its role in the forward progress of equal rights.
Maya Angelou changed the world by never being hesitant to speak her mind, she passionately defended the rights of women, young people and the ignored and she effortlessly traversed the worlds of literature and activism, becoming a confidante to the original civil rights leaders, their successors and the current generation.
I’m so pleased that we have been able to bring into the library some key works by Maya Angelou for children at Barrow Hills to read and borrow. I would particularly encourage parents with children who are strong readers, near the top of the school, to get them to read ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’. We also have a copy of Angelou’s brave, defiant poetry book ‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’, which celebrates the courage within each of us, young and old, from the scary thought of panthers in the park, to the unsettling scene of a new classroom. Here she encourages the power of faith in ourselves to dispel our fears. Finally, we have a child friendly biography of the great lady called ‘Little People, Big People’.
Mrs Emmett
Librarian