I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

THE BASICS In Maya Angelou’s book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” she reflected on the various societies she had grown up in. Though she mostly grew up in Stamps, Arkansas, she had a short stay in St. Louis, Missouri, and later moved to San Francisco, California. In each of these locations she had noted the indifference which blacks were treated by the white communities. The theme of Maya Angelou’s, “I Know …

…her mother, they lived in the, “Fillmore District,” a traditionally black sector centrally located in San Francisco (205). She also initially attended an institution for girls with others from the minority class (208). Angelo had spent her formative year shuttling between different communities, yet her experiences of contempt from the white sector seem to mirror that of the last. In conclusion Maya Angelou superbly and clearly made her point concerning the discrimination against blacks during the 1930’s.