Going to Africa to find a deeper part
of herself, Maya Angelou witnesses her soul transform into higher strength and
awareness. As a teenage parent, she
raised her child by singing and acting.
She packed her son and moved with the wind with aspirations to expose
him to the highest quality of life. In
Africa, Ms. Angelou holds a position in a local university to pay for her son’s
education. He begins to grow into his
manhood as she, in her early thirties, experiences a desired yet unimaginable
maturity.
Angelou meets many
intellects and politicians and moves in with two other women. Each woman is a revolutionary from America
fed up with the system of oppression and discrimination. They have experience in movements toward
equality but travel abroad for the real peace and fulfillment of the mother
land.
Angelou is wooed by a man of strong
stature in an African tribe distant from Ghana, Maya’s primary location. He treats Maya like a flower and ensures that
she has the best of every evening that they share. After multiple interactions,
he makes a proposal to Maya that will enable her to be a second wife and begin
working on more children. Though not
said explicitly, the reader can imply that Angelou has desires of furthering
her family, even after a fairly recent divorce.
She immediately is aware that the offer is not of her liking and humbly
declines. He persists and eventually
explains his disappointment in her suspected American mentality that he assumes
is keeping her from accepting his proposal.
It is determined, through her inner thinking, that though she thinks him
to be an honorable, pleasant keeper, Angelou intends to live life under the
side of the moon that fits her best. The
trouble was finding that place.
After Malcolm X leaves Mecca, he stops
in Ghana on his way to the states. He
has a newfound peace and understanding about his position in the fight for
civil rights in America. Angelou’s
colleagues arrange many events and ceremonies to honor the mobile. She becomes disappointed when the president
doesn’t agree to meet with Malcolm, and she is upset with W.E.B DuBois’ wife
for not using her good relationship with the president to immediately schedule
a meeting with Malcolm. A short before
Malcolm leaves, Mrs. DuBois finally meets him and is highly impressed. The president meets with the civil rights
leader and each of the men are humbled by the presence of the other.
Before
Malcolm X leaves Ghana, he has a conversation with Ms. Angelou. He reprimands her for her ignorance and naivety. He explains that the things that make her
upset can be attributed to the fact that she is closed minded and doesn’t
respect each individual’s contribution to the betterment of Africans in
America. He explains that she would be
most beneficial understanding how people can be served from many facets and
encourages her to go back to her home in America.
As Angelou prepares for her
transition, she crosses path with elders who identify her as a lost member of
their tribe. Ancestors had been run out
of this village and captured into slavery.
Only a few children were left. The refugees were taken in by a nearby
village, and when they became adults, they returned to their homeland to
rebuild. The elders believed that Angelou’s
characteristics stemmed from their lineage.
Under the sun, before she left Ghana,
Maya Angelou found everything she needed. The desire to be accepted by one
community had finally occurred, but she realized, that all along, she was only
looking to accept herself. She had found
a way to blame other people for the conditions around her rather than taking
the responsibility to focus on her locus of control and have faith in other’s
around her.
This book gave me healing and helped
me to remember that the process of growing isn’t efficient in real time.
Weakness must leave the body, and that is why we have to deal with pain. To see
the wisdom that Angelou gained from the community of women, politicians,
intellects and local community members reminded me of that home that one feels
when they are with us of African descent.
Everyone, in their own way, was moving forward with their hands out to
help family along the way. Naturally,
Maya was rejected and accepted simultaneously, which is symbolic of the bitter sweet definition of life. You win some and you lose some, but if you
gain patience, you learn that you were never missing anything at all.
In the perfect moments, Angelou was
given what she needed. From courage to
confidence, from a job to advice from a legend, Angelou grew into herself, the
same way that so many of us are doing now. We have this fear of being out of
control. We want badly to live in a
world where pain doesn’t exists, but what one learns from this autobiography is
that in time wisdom comes and your conscious will lead you as far as you have ever been capable of going. Be still and be moved. Read the book!
