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Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou (1928–) was born Marguerite Johnson in St Louis, Missouri. Her parents separated and she was brought up in Arkansas by her grandmother. At the age of eight she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and she went and reported it. Subsequently the rapist was killed, possibly by Maya’s uncles. Traumatized by this and by the sense that her words had had such a powerful impact, Maya refused to speak for five years. She read books instead and with a neighbour’s encouragement, developed a great love of language, and by reciting literature regained her will to speak.
Another formative incident was the refusal of a dentist to treat her for a tooth abscess, because he would not touch a black person’s mouth. The ...
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