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Born: 1927, Missouri

Died: 2000

Parents: Bailey Johnson, Vivian Baxter Johnson

Siblings: Maya Angelou

Nephew: Guy Johnson

https://g.co/kgs/aW1Yde

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Born: 1927, Missouri

Died: 2000

Parents: Bailey Johnson, Vivian Baxter Johnson

Siblings: Maya Angelou

Nephew: Guy Johnson

https://g.co/kgs/aW1Yde

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Timeline Of Historical Events in the 1940s

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Timeline Of Historical Events in the 1940s

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U.S. Timeline, 1940-1949 - America's Best History

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America's Best History - United States History Timeline 1940-1949. World War II. Most important historical events of each year of the decade of the 1940's listed.

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Women

Wide padded shoulders

nipped in high waist tops,

a-line skirts that came down to the knee.

http://vintagedancer.com/1940s/what-did-women-wear-in-the-1940s/

Men

Big suits

big pants

big prints,

big colors.

http://vintagedancer.com/1940s/1940s-mens-fashion/

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Lafayette_County_Arkansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Stamps_Highlighted.svg/2000px-Lafayette_County_Arkansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Stamps_Highlighted.svg.png

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A no racism sign that shows that during the time period this book takes place racism was a big issue

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A no racism sign that shows that during the time period this book takes place racism was a big issue

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/No-racism.svg/2000px-No-racism.svg.png

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This Picture shows an example of lynching which was featured in the book

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This Picture shows an example of lynching which was featured in the book

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https://pixabay.com/p-151491/?no_redirect

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Maya_Angelou_visits_YCP_Feb_2013.jpg

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A picture depicting a caged bird which represents how Maya feels during the book.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/02/28/10/25/cage-1226738_960_720.jpg

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A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZE3QeYkV9o

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A young man took his own life last week. I did not know him well, I just sang in a choir with him. I can only hope that choir was a source of peace for him like it is to me.

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http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/newyorker/race.html

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The 1930's were a turbulent time for race relations in America. Despite the decline of such organizations as the Ku Klux Klan (which had enjoyed renewed support during the 1910's and 1920's) racism was as strong as ever in the Southern states.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNvdhi75HqM

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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Trailer 1979

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http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=1495

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
"Fear of corrupting the mind of the younger generation is the loftiest form of cowardice."- Holbrook Jackson

Because the display of Maya Angelou's autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in miniature prison cell at the American Booksellers Association 1982 annual convention catalyzed the advent of Banned Books Week, it is a fitting first profile for the Spotlight on Censorship series.

According to the new edition of Banned Books Resource Guide, I Kno w Why the Caged Bird Sings has had thirty-nine public challenges or bans since 1983. The majority of complaints were from parents who objected to the book's depiction of sexually explicit scenes, including the rape and molestation suffered by the author as an eight-year-old, but it also has been challenged for being "anti-white" and encouraging homosexuality. The Office for Intellectual Freedom has received significantly more confidential reports of challenges to this iconic book in the past three decades.

In a victory for the freedom to read, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has often been retained despite challenges and attempted removals. In one case, the book remained in the curriculum for sophomores at Dowling High School in Des Moines, Iowa, after a 1994 challenge by a parent who objected to the book's "inappropriately explicit sexual scenes." The book also was challenged but retained in the Volusia County (FL) County Schools (1995); on the Beech High School reading list in Hendersonville, Tenn. (1995); on the optional reading list at the East Lawrence High School in Moulton, Ala.; and as part of the Mukileteo (WA) School District's high school curriculum (1997).

Interestingly, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was retained in 2006 as part of a high school sophomore advanced English class in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, a locale in the news this year because of a challenge to Sonya Sones' One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies.

Most recently, the book was challenged twice in California. The Newman-Crows Landing School District challenged its inclusion on the Orestimba High School English Department in 2009 when a trustee questioned whether the school's staff was qualified to teach a novel depicting African-American culture. Again in 2009, the book was restricted to students with parental permission at the Ocean View School District middle school libraries in Huntington Beach.

In response to the controversy in Huntington Beach, Angelou "I'm always sorry that people ban my books. Many times I've been called the most banned. And many times my books are banned by people who never read two sentences. I feel sorry for the young person who never gets to read." told the Orange County Register

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Spotlight on Censorship: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Intellectual Freedom Blog

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou "Fear of corrupting the mind of the younger generation is the loftiest form of cowardice."- Holbrook Jackson Because the display of Maya Angelou's autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in miniature prison cell at the American Booksellers Association 1982 annual convention catalyzed the advent of Banned Books Week, it is a fitting first profile for the Spotlight on Censorship series.

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http://newafricanmagazine.com/maya-angelou-banned-author-us/

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https://soundcloud.com/penguin-audio/i-know-why-the-caged-bird

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, read by Maya Angelou by PRH Audio

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Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

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Maya and her brother, Bailey Jr.,  move to Arkansas to live with their grandmother (Momma) and Uncle Willie.

Education is deemed very important for the family. The children get quizzed every night and if they answer incorrectly they get burned on the stove.

The children receive Christmas presents from their parents which is odd since they are believed to be dead.

A year later, the children's father (Bailey) shows up in Arkansas and soon leaves with the kids.

Their father takes them to their mother, Vivian.

The kids are blown away by how nice and educated their mother is. She is perfect except for one thing, she dates a lot of men.

When the children arrive, their mother is currently with Mr.Freeman who eventually sexually abuses and rapes Maya.

When the family finds out, he is sent to jail and later kicked to death.

Maya blames herself for the death and decides not to speak because of it.

Maya is silent for another year until she meets Mrs. Flowers.

Mrs. Flowers introduces poetry to Maya and allows her to talk again.

Bailey Jr. does not take the move well, until he meets his first love, Joyce, who soon leaves town.

Soon after,  Bailey Jr. watches a lynching and their grandmother makes the children move back in with their mother

Their mother is now with Ciddell who seems to be a nice man and WW2 starts.

Soon after, Maya's father invites her to go to southern California with him.

There she meets his girlfriend, Dolores, who doesn't like Maya.

After a Car accident in Mexico, Maya and her father fight with Dolores causing Maya to go live with a community of homeless young adults.

A month later she returns to San Francisco to find her brother no longer lives with their mother due to the fact that he took up prostitution.

Since Maya was bored without her brother in the house, she decides to get a job as a streetcar conductorette. She fights for weeks to get the job since they don't hire black people. Then, finally, she become the first black female streetcar conductorette in San Francisco.

When she returns to school, Maya reads The Well of Loneliness and begins to wonder if she is a lesbian.

Maya's mother assures her that isn't the case, but that doesn't convince her. Having an affair with one of the neighborhood boys doesn't convince her either, but that does get her pregnant.

Maya hides her pregnancy until the end of high school. She has her baby three weeks after she graduates.

Maya then learns that she can be a good mother to her baby.

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By: Maya Angelou

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By: Maya Angelou

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1."He must have tired of being crippled, as prisoners tire of penitentiary bars and the guilty tire of blame. The high-topped shoes and the cane, his uncontrollable muscles and thick tongue, and the looks he suffered of either contempt or pity had simply worn him out, and for one afternoon, one part of an afternoon, he wanted no part of them." (Page 15)

2.“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” (Page 308)

3.“Words mean more than what is set down on paper."
(page 106)