"I know why the caged bird sings"

Confession: this was the first time I've read a book by Maya Angelou all the way through. And it was one of the most heart-wrenching, emotional books I have read in quite sometime.

Photo courtesy of Angus Robertson

It is an autobiography, telling the story of Angelou's early life. With parents divorced during her toddlerhood, she is carted to the South with her brother to live with their grandmother. The reader follows her as she grows, suffers, learns, makes mistakes, and experiences life.

The tales that unfold intricately describe her experience as a Black in a world run by Whites, as a child in a world ruled by adults, and as a girl in a world ruled by men. Having cried my way through half of the book, it made me question how we can live a world that is so cruel. Angelou gives the account from the perspective of the oppressed, but never in a condescending way. She describes injustice as it is, a disease deeper than the individuals involved.

The stories played out in I know why the caged bird sings are beautiful and and horrifying and hopeful and devastating all at the same time. I recommend this book to anyone who has never read it, but please make sure that you are in an emotionally stable state of mind when you crack it open...