Challenged to put her oral histories to paper, she created I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings . Published in 1969, it was a new type of writing. Open and frank about the experience of being black -- as well as about her childhood rape -- it was a primary example of 'personal identity" prose. Angelou spoke of putting the tradition of the "slave narrative" out to the public, writing "I" but meaning we." It became a touchstone for readers of all backgrounds. Oprah Winfrey, in her interview, defines her revelation: "Somebody knows who I am."
Angelou had many relationships and several marriages. One of her husbands, Paul du Feu pointed out, "There wasn't room beyond the written word."
A dancer, singer, actress, poet, writer, and lecturer Angelou was larger than life. There were no boundaries to her talents. She worked with musicians, including B.B. King. She played the grandmother of Kunta Kinte in the 1977 version of Roots . She directed the film Down in the Delta , about a mother sending her daughter away from Chicago and back to Mississippi, the home of previous generations.
Angelou frequently spoke to the female African American experience. "Black women are the last on the totem pole," she said.
However, her message was universal. It was the directive to believe in your own voice, and to know that you are enough.
"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated," Angelou pronounced.
One of the high points of Angelou's career was the delivery of her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning," at Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. One of its stanzas is now poignantly relevant:
Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For a new beginning.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.
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