Family and Social Background

Family and Social Background

The foundation for the life and work of Maya Angelou was her difficult childhood. In her autobiography she describes the struggle through the insecurities of being black in the 1930s South, where she constantly encountered the stinging reality of racism and the shame she feels when she is raped at the age of eight by her mother’s boyfriend. So traumatized by the experience, Angelou stopped talking. She spent five and a half years as a virtual mute.

           

During World War II, Angelou moved to San Francisco. There she won a scholarship to study dance and acting at the Labor School. Angelou worked for a time as the first female African American cable car conductor. In 1944, the sixteen-year-old future literary icon gave birth to her son Guy. Angelou worked a number of jobs to support herself and her son. Her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), describes Angelou's life up to age sixteen, providing a child's point of view about the confusing world of adults. The book concludes with Angelou having regained her self-esteem and caring for her newborn son. In addition to being a sharp account of an African American girl's coming of age, this work offers insights into the social and political climate of the 1930s. Her next autobiographical work, Gather Together in My Name (1974), covers the period immediately after the birth of her son Guy and describes her struggle to care for him as a single parent.

The social scenario of the 60s and 70s was such that African-Americans were fighting for civil rights, racial injustice, and equality, the feminist movement was gaining momentum. Women were fighting* for equal rights, more independence, equal pay, and the right to be heard. The American social backdrop during her early years, was unstable and rather violent due to first the World War, the Civil Rights Movement and then the consistent race riots. These events influenced the canvas of Angelou’s work. Also her works started gaining importance as a part of the Civil Rights Movement, and she became a spokesperson for these movements.

Thus, her tragic personal life in the backdrop of a bloody social climate, contributed in her becoming one of the most famous and powerful literary figures of the 20th century.