I chose to do my first project on the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou because this poem reminds me of some of the strongest women in history. Maya Angelou is a wonderful poet, and this poem in particular draws my interest because it speaks to anyone that feels like things, or people, in their life are trying to bring them down. What I believe she is saying in this poem is that she is determined to succeed in her life no matter what. I can imagine that during the time that she wrote this poem, she had lots of people trying to bring her down and tell her that she won’t succeed because of her race, gender, or things that happened in her past. In this poem, she is telling all these people that it doesn’t matter what has happened in her life, …show more content…
Her grandmother taught her love and respect while also showing her by example how to be strong and independent. Throughout her life, she faced many adversities which lead her to become the influential woman she is known so well for being. Along with growing up in an era where she would face discrimination because of her race and also her gender, she faced other things she had to overcome such as being sexually assaulted by one of her mother’s boyfriends at a young age and becoming a single mother shortly after graduating high school. All of these things coupled with her passion for music and poetry inspired her to write stories, poems, and screenplays that have won multiple awards. (Caged Bird Legacy, …show more content…
They had decided that they would no longer stay silent while being treated like second class citizens. The poem speaks to the way they were speaking out, and standing up for themselves and their rights. (Staff, 2010) This brought about some of the things we see today in women’s rights and equality for all people. Our country may not be where we would have hoped to be in terms of equality, but we have come a long way from where we were. People like Maya Angelou and their stories and poems gave a voice to those who were fighting to be seen as equal, and helped our country to become the nation it is