Why The Caged Bird Still Sings
Honoring Maya Angelou’s Voice Amid Censorship
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
“You are beautiful; are you convinced? Your voice is true; do you believe it? Your song is perfect; are you dancing?”
Last week, the U.S. Naval Academy removed 381 books from its Nimitz Library in Annapolis, Maryland - including Maya Angelou’s groundbreaking memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. The removals were reportedly connected to efforts to eliminate materials related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. And yet, one must ask: how do we form strong, wise, and just leaders without giving them access to voices like Maya’s?
Angelou’s 1969 autobiography was a revolution in itself. A young Black girl’s story, told with literary grace and unflinching honesty, made the world stop and listen. It spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list and earned a National Book Award nomination. Her words made space for generations of women - and particularly Black women - to see their truths reflected on the page.
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Here’s a little-known origin story. At a dinner party hosted by cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Maya Angelou met Feiffer’s wife, who was so taken by Maya’s presence that she made a call to Random House editor Robert Loomis. When Loomis approached Maya about writing a memoir, she flatly refused. “Absolutely not,” she said. Loomis replied, “It’s just as well, because to write an autobiography as literature is just about impossible.”
That was all the invitation she needed. “I’ll start tomorrow,” she told him.
The title of Angelou’s book was inspired by Sympathy, a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of Angelou’s favorite writers. (Here is an excerpt)
“I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and he 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!”