Caged Bird

Last Friday night, I finished the 1969 autobiography by Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I was moved by this book and highly recommend reading it.

Facts:

• Maya Angelou came into this world as Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928. 
• Caged Bird is the first out of a six volume autobiographical series. 
• Earlier this year, TIME (magazine) included Caged Bird on its list "100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923."
• The book was nominated for the National Book Award in 1970.
• According to Random House, Caged Bird had a record of 2 years on the New York Times Best Seller List (non-fiction paperback)
• Caged Bird made the ALA's Frequently Challenged Books Written by Authors of Color list for the following reasons: racism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group.
•  Maya Angelou made the ALA's Frequently Challenged Authors List in 2001 and 2002.
• Caged Bird made the 3rd spot on ALA's Frequently Challenged Books from 1990 - 1999.
• From 2000 - 2009, Caged Bird dropped down to the 6th spot on the ALA's Frequently Challenged Books list.

The Title:
Suggested by Abbey Lincoln, the title originates from a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar titled Sympathy (third stanza):

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings –
I know why the caged bird sings.

Publisher's Weekly:

As in Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, famed poet and author Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) casts a keen eye inward and bares her soul in a slim volume of personal essays. This collection is narrower in scope than Angelou's earlier book and the sense of racial pride is stronger, more compelling. But all of her opinions are deeply rooted and most are conveyed with a combination of humility, personable intelligence and wit. Like a modern-day Kahlil Gibran, Angelou offers insights on a wide range of topics-Africa, aging, self-reflection, independence and the importance of understanding both the historical truth of the African American experience and the art that truth inspired. Women are a recurrent topic, and in "A Song to Sensuality," she writes of the misconceptions the young (her younger self included) have of aging. "They Came to Stay" is a particularly inspirational piece paying homage to black women: "Precious jewels all." Even Oprah Winfrey (to whom the previous collection was dedicated) serves as subject matter and is likened to "the desperate traveler who teaches us the most profound lesson and affords us the most exquisite thrills." In her final essay, Angelou uses the story of the prodigal son to remind readers of the value of solitude: "In the silence we listen to ourselves. Then we ask questions of ourselves. We describe ourselves to ourselves, and in the quietude we may even hear the voice of God."