Returning to her mother’s care briefly at the age of seven, Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. He was later jailed and then killed when released from jail. Believing that her confession of the trauma had a hand in the man’s death, Angelou became mute for six years. During this time, and into her teens, she again lived with her grandmother in Arkansas.

Throughout her childhood, she wrote essays, poetry, and kept a journal. When she returned to Arkansas, she took an interest in poetry and memorized works by Shakespeare and Poe. 

Shortly after Martin Luther King Jr. died, she went to a meeting and was inspired to write the poem "Caged Bird" to deal with the death of a friend. She also had many personal struggles with racism that really affected her.