How Maya Angelou Reclaimed Her Voice

Maya Angelou was an American writer, poet, and civil rights activist. As a child, she was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend, a trauma she carried throughout her life. Her mother’s boyfriend was jailed for only one day, and four days after his release, he was murdered, reportedly by one of Angelou’s uncles. She became mute for years, believing she was to blame for his death. 

She thought her “voice killed him… I killed that man, because I told his name.” She stated she would never speak again, feeling that words would always cause harm. A teacher from Angelou’s childhood helped her speak again by encouraging her to read poetry out loud. The teacher introduced her to Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and many other influential writers.

Angelou slowly began to rebuild her confidence after she started to read various types of literature. She became the first Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. She became pregnant at 16, and gave birth to her son, Guy, when she was 17 years old. 

After that, her life became very busy, working multiple different jobs: dancer, singer, actress, writer, and journalist. In the 1950s, she became much more involved in performance and writing, and joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she met James Baldwin, an important Black writer of the era. In the 1960s, she became a very prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement. She worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and was also connected to Malcolm X. She also spent some of her life in Ghana as a journalist and educator.

Angelou’s passion for various disciplines only excelled as time passed. In 1969, she wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, her famous 1969 autobiography. She published a total of seven autobiographies, three essay books, and several volumes of poetry, including Still I Rise and Mom & Me & Mom. She received dozens of awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She inspired generations of readers with her writings on racism and womanhood, and still inspires the world today. 

Maya Angelou’s life depicts the post-traumatic growth that occurs when someone builds strength and purpose after a tragic, traumatic event. She also has what psychologists characterize as self-authorship because she became the narrator of her own life instead of letting violence define her. She was a courageous woman who led a life of growth and independence.