african-american studies

The theme of the chapter revolves around the unfair social norms of the time that plagued the lives of African-American slaves.
             The texts of the records were very negligent (they used lax phrases such as "friendless boys and girls"), and very few of the crimes (rape, sexual exploits, beatings) in where African-Americans were victims were ever reported or recorded (2-33, W&W). This is an example of selective processing, which Angelou referred to with the first two lines of the poem. Neither History nor the law was kind to African-American slaves (the 1640 John Punch ruling exemplified the inconsistencies of the time [2-36, W&W]).
             CHAPTER 3.
             Chapter 3 discusses the prejudice that African-American women faced. They held no major community organizations and didn't hold any regional representation at any national conventions (w&w, 59).
             "Out of the huts of history's shame.
             I rise".
             The "huts of history's shame" in stanza eight also makes an allusion to the oppression that African-American women faced. In each stanza, each "I rise" line refers to a different passage of the journey through African-American oppression. In this stanza, the first "I rise" is a reference to their abilities to still maintain their dignity despite having everything - their name, their families, their personalities, their lives - stripped from them through slavery up until current times.
             "Up from a past that's rooted in pain.
             "I rise".
             The second "I rise" then shows that she has recovered from the emotional scars of slavery and is now confident she can face any obstacle that she may encounter.
             Angelou uses each "I rise" in each stanza to convey a different positive sentiment. In this particular stanza, the two "I rise" lines combine to convey the image of breaking free from the shackles of imprisonment.
             The third chapter of WHEN AND WHERE I ENTER was similar to Angelou's second-to-last stanza in that it described the domination that African-American women had to face, but differed in the response that it sought to evoke.