Maya Angelou Barriers

Life is a long journey in which we are forced to experience something new everyday. We have days of strength, days of weakness, days of honesty, and days of deceit. We are not fully in control of the what happens to us, but we have the power to choose where we go next. We have the option to be happy, to be sad, to be a leader, or to be a follower. Choice is powerful, without choice we would not have change—for better or for worse. Everyday can significantly change because of a single choice. But every choice is not always available to everyone. There are barriers that stand in the way of each one, some can be broken down easily, while others take more time and effort. Maya Angelou experienced and overcame more of these barriers than I could

At a young age Maya and Bailey were sent to live with their grandma and uncle in Stamps, Arkansas. They were given no explanation as to why, but often wondered, “Why did they send us away? And what did we do so wrong? So wrong?” (57) Maya felt unwanted when she asked herself these questions, any parent that sends away their child must not love them, right? She was sent away again later on in the story from both her father and mother. A majority of her relationships with others were tenuous because she moved from place to place so often. Bailey was the only one Maya had a strong relationship with throughout most of her life. They loved each other when they felt that no one else did. They were each other’s constant while the world seemed to be crashing down around them. “Bailey was the greatest person in my world.” (23) The adoration she has for Bailey has shown me that love exists even when you feel it might not. She has shown that there will always be someone there to love you, even if it is not who you hoped it would be. But most importantly, Maya has shown me how important it is to love. Even when she felt no one loved her, she still gave her love to others. Angelou was strong enough to overcome her childhood to prevent her own child from feeling unwanted and unloved the way she did for so long in her

From a young age Maya recognized that she was inferior because of her skin color, “I was really white and because a cruel fairy stepmother, who was understandably jealous of my beauty, had turned me into a too-big Negro girl, with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between her teeth that would hold a number-two pencil.” (4) She continued to witness the division between her race and white people. She never really understood what made her dark skin different, she just knew that it did. As she grew older she recognized that the division between black and white was inexorable. “It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to the charges brought against my color with no chance of defense.” (193) This quote suggests that African Americans lived a life that was predetermined for them by white people. Angelou’s story has brought a piece of history that I have learned about and turned it into her own narrative that allowed me to see her emotions and live through her racial struggles right alongside her. I was able to feel how she felt as the same barrier stood in her way over and over again. She has shown me that it is possible to overcome these barriers because these barriers do not define us. We are stronger than what stands in our way and we have the ability to