In Maya’s biography, she writes of her fears and challenges and difficulties. Some of them can be compared to the hardships people face today. The idea of prejudice agai

On page 192 Maya says,” They don't really hate us. They don't know us. How can they hate us? They mostly scared." She is finally accepting of racism and comes to terms that it is the ignorance of some is not the way or the norm of things nor is it correct or acceptable. Maya’s acceptance of this shows the determination of change and the empowerment of her race. This gives hope and triumph to others out there that people can flourish and change, like Maya, who went from being ashamed and self deprecating of her race to a proud black women.

Growing up in a small Arkansas town called stamps. Maya was used to the segregation and grew up with the belief that her race was on a lower social status then the whites. "In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn't really, absolutely know what whites looked like. Other than that they were different, to be dreaded, and in that dread was included the hostility of the powerless against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for and the ragged against the well dressed. I remember never believing that whites were really real." Maya held them on such a pedestal, always thinking that she was less of a being for being the color black. Although this perception changes, it is there simply to show Maya’s low self image of herself to compare to the later epiphany of her embracement of her “blackness”.

“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite cross fire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges as a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.” (pg 273) This strong voice is the final outcome of Maya’s personality. She is no longer ashamed of her race or her sex, instead she is proud and assured of herself and “Negro females”. She recognized their treacherous struggle and how their emergence should be recognized with honor not distaste. This portrays blacks and women as strong and resilient creatures, it triumphs their struggles and illuminates the beauty in them.

Some topics in this essay:
Growing Arkansas, American Negro, African American’s, African American, Maya Angelou’s, African Americans, Southern Black, blacks women, especially women, southern black girl, maya’s life, hope triumph, maya’s acceptance, giving birth, maya’s own, african american, horrible ordeal, molded person,