Against Racism In Maya Angelou's Still I Rise

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Recommended: Analysis of still life by maya angelou

Alba Torres
09/19/2016
ENGL 1301-41404 The early 1600s started the tyrannical nightmare for African people, who were not seen as humans, but as a capitalization and possession. For years the greed of white men over ruled any kind of emotion or remorse against the exploitation of slaves. Regardless to the fact of such suffering there were many African Americans who made history by standing and rising for change. Similar to the poem, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou who describes how despite the oppression against her and African Americans throughout history, she firmly stands as an activist against racism, and even though her metaphors describe her with determination, soulful emotion is also perceived because of the unjust treatment.
African Americans were brought to a new world against their will, crossing an immense and merciless ocean. The same ocean that Angelou writes to compare African Americans in one of her poem stanzas which states, “I’m a …show more content…

Protest and marches were taking place by both blacks and whites together. The power of a community coming together for change was being felt and heard of in the US although violence was not completely gone. The poem Still I Rise, expresses hope by concluding, “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, / I am the dream and the hope of the slave. / I rise/ I rise/ I rise (Angelou 39-43). Angelou is comparing herself with the gift, she is the gift that her suffering ancestors left, so she is left with a purpose to make a change and rise not only for herself but for African Americans. In like matter, one of the most known activist is Martin Luther King Jr. who was one of many civil right leaders. King was part of the Massachusetts Boycott, he expanded the civil rights movement, and was always giving marches and speeches for change. His most famous speech is “I Have a Dream”. King was assassinated for defending what he believed for and is still remembered till this

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