The Heart Of A Woman
(Maya Angelou)
The Heart of a Woman is the fourth in Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies, set in the 1960s when she was in her thirties. This part of her life story begins in California and moves, via Harlem and Egypt, to Ghana. She is encouraged in her writing by friend John Killens, and starts to become more committed to it during this phase of her life. An integral part of her own story is the story of her son Guy and their relationship as he matures into early adulthood.Angelou works through a variety of jobs at different locations during the book. These include: night club singer, the job she has at the start of the book after returning from a year-long European tour as a dancer in Porgy and Bess; short story writer and member of the Harlem Writers' Guild; theatre producer; campaign coordinator to Martin Luther King; and university administrator in Ghana, being paid at the Ghanaian rate as she had no academic degree, the job she has at the close of the book. She meets, among others, figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Billie Holiday.The book has much to say on the Black Struggle; from personal experiences such as Guy's problems with other children on the bus to school in Hollywood which led to her withdrawing him from the school, to observations of reactions to the Genet piece The Blacks which she put on in New York. There are also interesting insights into African and Black American cultural differences: she is married to the African freedom fighter Vus Make for part of the book, as well as commentary on the male-female dynamic. Questions involving religious issues about Christianity and the Black Islamist movement are also addressed.As well as being a good read and a gripping true story, in a diverse range of geographical settings, The Heart of a Woman is vital reading for anyone interested in the history of the Black civil rights movement and in a personal account of racial oppression and integration.
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- The Heart Of A Woman
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- I Have A Dream
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