I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

YA memoir
"The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos
and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls
weren't even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises.
Owens and the Brown Bomber were great heroes in our world, but
what school official in the whitegoddom of Little Rock had the right
to decide that these two men must be our only heroes?..."
The above quote comes from Maya Angelou's memoir of her early
years, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Maya was graduating from
elementary school. The families and community took great pride in
those graduates and the teens leaving high school. Elaborate
preparations were made. Parents purchased or made special outfits.
She hoped she would never forget the special morning of the event.
There was a white speaker at graduation. He raved about all the
improvements in store for the white high school. A well-known artist
would teach classes. They were getting state of the art chemistry
equipment and miscrscopes. Nothing like that was in store for their
high school. But they sure produced fine athletes!
That is far from the only racist incident in the book. Have you
ever had a blindingly painful toothache? Maya did. Bad teeth were
pulled at home. But there was not enough enamel to tie a string to.
The nearest Black dentist was 25 miles (by bus) away. Maya's
grandmother (whom Maya and her brother, Bailey, lived with) owned a
store. During the Depression she'd made loans to Blacks and Whites
including the town's dentist. But when they got to his office, he
refused to even look at Maya.
Between racism, childhood rape, and family dysfunction Maya had
quite tempestuous early years. Despite that she was able to rise to
greatness. This very candid memoir of the first part of her life is
well worth reading.
On a purrrsonal note, I was really excited to learn that this is world
mask week. Those of us who are mask wearers are encouraged to post
masked pictures of ourselves on all our social media and encourage
others to do the same. I hope you will participate. You'll get to
see a picture of me on this blog (Jules)
I am glad cats don't have to wear those things. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to all who shelter in place, work from
home, mask, and social distance and all the essential workers we never
protect enough.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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