Born as Marguerite Johnson, Maya Angelou her brother, Bailey Johnson was born in Long Beach, California. Maya was an African American girl with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between her teeth. Maya was very disciplined for a young girl and well educated. Bailey, Maya’s older brother, was loyal, good looking, intelligent, and playful. Maya and Bailey were shipped off to live with their grandmother, Momma Henderson who lived in Stamps, Arkansas. Momma Henderson was a woman of substance, who was respected for being the only black female entrepreneur in town. Maya and Bailey were sent to their grandmother’s house because of their parents divorce

Throughout the book, Maya had throbbed for a sense of belonging, but unfortunately, she only received rejection. She is taunted by her peers and the white race, sexually abused by a man who should have cared for her as his child, neglected by a selfish father, and deserted by her mother. Her entire life was a struggle. She had been shipped off to different people all her life and witness different environments that she wasn’t used to. She was sexual abused, racially abused and gender abused, but she still managed to finish school and to give birth to a son, which she loved dearly. Maya Angelou is a definition of a “Real Woman”.

When Maya and Bailey arrive at St. Louis to meet their mother, neither Maya nor Bailey could believe that Vivian was their mother. She was so beautiful. They seem to forgive her immediately for having abandoned them. Their mother was beautiful, smart, and willful. She was a trained nurse, but earns a living playing poker games in gambling parlors. Before Maya and Bailey had a chance to settle in, Father Bailey announced that he was leaving them behind for a second time. Knowing that, they stay with their mother and her boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. Vivian doesn’t know how to be a good mother and is unable to meet the children’s needs. Both Bailey and Maya pick up bad habits in St. Louis. Maya starts to have nightmares and Bailey starts to stutter. Vivian tries to be a good mother lets Maya sleep in her bed. But what Vivian didn’t know was that she was putting Maya in danger. When Vivian was not around, Mr. Freeman, her boyfriend, takes advantage of Maya, taking care of his sexual needs against her. Maya get confused about Mr. Freeman’s sexual attraction toward her as fatherly love. Mr. Freeman pressed himself against Maya but she was too immature to see that Mr. Freeman was not showing fatherly love. Mr. Freeman then threatens her, stating that if she told on him he will kill Bailey. Maya then finds herself wanting to be close to Mr. Freeman, for he was the first person who she thinks has ever showed her physical affection. One day she goes to him and sits on his lap and Mr. Freeman pulls her to his chest. She thinks his heart was beating for her at that moment. After that Mr. Freeman then starts to ignore Maya, so to fight her loneliness, she goes to the library and loses herself into books. One day Mr. Freeman waits for Maya to return from buying milk, and he has his privates exposed. When she enters the house, he calls her close. When May

Some topics in this essay:
Unfortunately Maya, Bailey Maya, Francisco Bailey, St Louis, Maya Bailey, California Maya, Grandma Baxter, African American, Vivian Freeman, Maya Bailey’s, maya bailey, st louis, fatherly love, maya angelou, birth son, maya’s life, maya starts, african american, life maya, school birth son, bailey maya, maya bailey’s father, fatherly love freeman, finish school birth,