Maya Angelou

by Lupton, Mary;

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  Smiley, Tavis. My Journey with Maya. With David Ritz. New York: Little, Brown, 2015.

  Smiley, Tavis. “Tavis Smiley Is Working on a Maya Angelou Play.” http://allhiphop.com/2015/04/02/tavis-smiley-is-working-on-a-maya-angelou-play. Web. April 23, 2015.

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  Index

  Adams, Henry, 60, 118

  Adday, Comfort (Ghanaian beautician), 142, 149

  Africa: and ancestors, 151, 156; concept of darkness, 154–55; and contemporary poets, 17, 18, 49–50; identification with, 49–51, 53, 151–55; romanticization of, 50, 179; and slave narrative, 157–58; theme of motherhood, 140–41, 153, 154; and travel narratives, 49–51

  “The African” (Ghanaian lover), 10, 25, 60, 161, 166, 168, 170, 171, 176

  Ailey, Alvin, 7

  All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes: alternative reading (signifying), 156–59; character development, 143–53; narrative point of view and structure, 138; plot development, 140–43; setting, 139; style and literary devices, 55–56; thematic issues, 53–55; title of, 138

  Alternative readings: deconstructive, 113–15; feminist, 76–79; psychological/feminist, 134–36; reader-response, 174–76; signifying,156–59; womanist, 96–98

  Angelos, Tosh (Maya’s first husband), 5, 8, 24, 45, 99, 104

  Angelou, Maya: birth of, 4; birth of son, 7, 79; childhood of, 59–60, 64–65, 68, 72, 73–74; death of, 4, 177; departure from Africa, 137, 142, 150; education of, 15–16; funeral of, 177–78; honorary degrees, 4–5; poet laureate, 21–22; residence in Africa, 126–28, 137–43, 149–52, 154–56; special awards, 33–36, 179; theater and television work, 31–32; work in film, 32–33. See also All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes; Even the Stars Look Lonesome; Gather Together in My Name; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Mom & Me & Mom; Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas; A Song Flung Up to Heaven

  Autobiography: and black literary tradition, 41–42, 45–46; and collectivity, 52–53; and contemporary narratives, 54–56; and gender, 45–46, 54; and literacy, 52; and literary autobiography, 49; and prison narratives, 46–47; and serial autobiography, 41–43; and the spiritual, 57–58; and success narratives, 47–49; and travel narratives, 49–51; and truth, 43–45, 82–83, 100

  Baldwin, James, 1, 4, 10, 49, 59, 161, 168–70

  Baxter, Vivian (Maya’s mother and a major character), 4–6, 11–12; absent mother, 86, 136, 164; caretaker of grandson, 103–6, 165; in conclusion of autobiographical series, 170–73; death of, 12, 28–29, 180; and Malcolm X, 164; Maya’s ambivalence toward, 27–28, 164–65; and Tosh Angelos,104. See also Mom & Me & Mom

  Berlin, 152–53

  Bildungsroman, 39, 81

  Black Elk Speaks, 40, 100

  The Blacks (Jean Genet), 8, 32, 48, 59, 138, 153, 163

  The Book of Negroes, 55

  Brent, Linda (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl): and collectivity, 61; compared to male slave narratives, 54; and confinement, 157–58; and motherhood, 157–58; and signifying, 157

  Brew, Kwesi (Ghanaian poet), 17, 18, 150, 166

  Brooks, Gwendolyn, 45, 50

  Cabaret for Freedom, 1, 8, 32, 48, 118

  “California Prodigal” (poem), 19

  Cambridge, Godfrey. See Cabaret for Freedom

  Carson, Dr. Ben, 48

  Churchill, Winston, 61

  Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 177–78

  Circularity, 164

  Cleaver, Eldridge, 46, 81, 168

  Clidell, Daddy (Angelou’s step-father), 16, 62, 86, 88

  Clifton, Lucille, 21, 24

  Clinton, Hillary, 21, 178

  Clinton, William (U.S. president), 5, 20, 43, 153, 177, 178

  College Language Association Journal, 20, 179

  Commemorative posta
ge stamp, 36

  Cultural Association for Women of African Heritage (CAWAH), 77, 132

  Dark Continent, 154–55

  Davis, Angela, 47

  Demeter-Persephone myth, 96

  Dialectical method, 103

  Dickinson, Emily, 17

  Douglass, Frederick, 41, 52, 53–54, 55

  Du Bois, W.E.B., 9, 47, 145–46, 147, 157

  Du Feu, Paul (Angelou’s third husband), 11, 13–14

  Dunbar, Paul Lawrence, 41, 73, 113, 133, 151, 178

  Echoes of a Distant Summer (Guy Johnson), 13

  Eliot, George, 39, 47

  Equiano, Olaudah, 53, 54–55, 157

  Even the Stars Look Lonesome, 11, 21, 22, 24–25

  Fauset, Jessie, 16, 17

  Feminism, 76–79, 135

  Flowers, Bertha (Mrs.), 16, 64, 69, 79

  Franklin, Benjamin, 60, 118

  Freeman, Mr. (rapist). See Rape, theme of

  Friedan, Betty, 98, 172

  Frost, Robert, 20

  Gates, Henry Louis Jr., 48, 53, 156–57

  Gather Together in My Name: alternative reading (womanist), 96–98; character development, 85–89; compared to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 81–83, 86, 87; employment in, 7, 80, 93–94; fragmentation, 83, 84, 86–88; lesbianism, 87; narrative point of view, 81–83; plot development, 84–85; structure, 83–84; style and literary devices, 94–96; thematic issues, 90–94; title of, 82–84; and truth, 82–83

  Gender, 104–05

  Genre. See Autobiography

  Ghana, 151, 156, 158, 161–63, 166; Angelou’s ambivalence toward,155; Angelou’s departure from, 137, 150–51, 169–70; Angelou’s search for roots, 155–59; and Pan-African Movement, 142; and setting in All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, 139, 145–46; and slavery, 155; University of, 9, 142, 150, 165

  Giovanni, Nikki, 46, 86, 178

  Golden, Marita, 50–51

  Graham, Shirley (wife of Du Bois), 146, 148

  Great Food All Day Long (cookbook), 30–31

  Guy, Rosa, 10, 132, 167–68

  Hallelujah! The Welcome Table (cookbook), 30

  Hamer, Fanny Lou, 26

  Hampton, Lionel, 112

  Hansberry, Lorraine, 73

  Harlem, 114, 161, 172

  Harper, Frances, 15, 16

  Hawaii, 103, 108, 116, 164

  Heart of a Woman: character development, 120–28; narrative point of view, 117–19; plot development, 120; setting, 128–29; structure, 119–20; style and literary devices, 131–36; thematic issues, 131; title of, 133–34

  Hellman, Lillian, 42–43

  Henderson, Annie (paternal grandmother and major character), 5, 6, 7, 25, 26–27; in Gather Together in My Name, 84, 87–88; in Hallelujah: The Welcome Table, 30; in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 65–68; in Letter to My Daughter, 26–27; in Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas, 101, 106–7

  Henderson, William (Uncle Willie), 2, 66–68

  Hitler, Adolf, 152

  Holiday, Billie, 1, 132, 134–35

  hooks, bell, 46

  Hughes, Langston, 49–50, 138

  Hurston, Zora Neale, 41, 110, 161; Dust Tracks on a Road, 45, 61, 86; and the spiritual, 56–57; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 156, 157, 158–59; and use of metaphor, 158–59

  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: alternative reading (feminist), 76–79; censorship of, 76–77; character development, 64–71; compared to Gather Together in My Name, 81, 83, 86, 87; film version, 66–67, 71; gender, 69–70; and links with A Song Flung Up to Heaven, 164, 168, 172, 178; literary style, 72, 74–75; narrative point of view, 60–61; plot development, 63–64; racism, 70; setting, 71–72; and slave narrative, 55–56; structure, 62–63; thematic issues, 72–75; title of, 73–74; white characters in, 70–71

  Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. See Brent, Linda

  Jackson, George, 47

  Jacobs, Harriet. See Brent, Linda

  Jazz, 1, 84, 93, 112, 144

  Johnson, Bailey Jr. (Maya’s brother and a major character), 5, 11, 27, 28, 84, 85, 88, 91; death of, 11; in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67–8, 72; in A Song Flung Up from Heaven, 164–65, 170

  Johnson, Bailey Sr. (Maya’s father), 5, 6, 67, 68, 72

  Johnson, Georgia Douglas, 15, 17, 40, 133

  Johnson, Guy (Maya’s son and a major character), 9, 11–13, 16; birth of, 6; car accidents, 116, 135, 137–39, 145, 149, 158, 164–65, 178; and childhood, 88, 90–91, 95; and death of Maya Angelou. 177, 178; and health, 13, 103; and independence, 153–54; as novelist, 12–13; as student at University of Ghana, 150, 165

  Johnson, James Weldon, 39, 40, 47, 61

  Johnson, Rose, 2

  Journey, 25, 50, 138, 160: and change, 101–02; and fragmentation, 83–84; and narrative line, 62; and self-discovery, 55–56, 143; and slave narrative, 51–56, 61, 112, 157–58

  Life Doesn’t Frighten Me (children’s book), 29–30

  Kerouac, Jack, 119, 134

  Kincaid, Jamaica, 60

  King, Coretta Scott, 26

  King, Martin Luther Jr., 9, 32, 40, 48, 116, 118, 180; assassination of, 1, 2, 160–61; march on Washington (1963), 146; and passive resistance, 146–47

  Kojo (African houseboy), 148, 154

  Lesbianism: and Beatrice and Johnnie Mae, 87–88, 94; and Billie Holiday, 132, 135; and fear of, 73

  Lessing, Doris, 42

  Loomis, Robert, 160

  Make, Vusumzi (“Vus,” Angelou’s second husband), 8, 9, 24–27, 134–35, 150, 166, 169

  Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), 9, 10, 40; Angelou’s allegiance to, 147–48, 169, 180; assassination of, 1, 3, 160, 170, 173, 179; protest strategy, 125; trip to Ghana, 132–33; and vignette, 132–33

  Marshall, Paule, 56

  Martin, Troubador (lover), 80–81, 89, 95–96, 112

  Mayfield, Julian, 10, 145, 149

  McBride, James: The Color of Water, 55; The Good Lord Bird, 54–55, 57–58, 60

  McKay, Claude, 4, 75

  McPherson, Dolly A.: as character in A Song Flung Up to Heaven, 157, 160, 161, 166–67, 168, 170, 172; as literary critic, 2, 10, 11, 12, 43, 70, 84, 86, 108, 119, 151

  McQueen, Steve (director), 12 Years a Slave, 44

  Mid-passage, 159

  Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 17

  Miss Calypso (recording), 179

  Mom & Me & Mom, 27–29. See Baxter, Vivian

  Monroe, Marilyn, 135

  Moody, Anne, 45–46, 81

  Morrison, Toni, 56, 178

  Musings: Even the Stars Look Lonesome, 24–25, 26; Letter to My Daughter, 26–27; Mom & Me & Mom, 27–29; “My Grandson Home at Last,” 22; Rainbow in the Cloud, 29; Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, 22–24

  Nketsia, Nana (African leader): in All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, 150, 151, 154; in A Song Flung Up to Heaven, 160, 166–67

  Nkrumah, Kwame (president of Ghana), 150, 151, 169

  Noah (Old Testament), 163, 170–71

  Northrup, Solomon (author), 12 Years a Slave, 54

  Obama, Barack (U.S. president), 34

  Obama, Michelle, 177, 178

  The Odyssey, 51, 95

  Oedipus complex, 135, 136

  “On the Pulse of Morning” (poem), 19–21, 176

  Owens, Jesse, 152

  Parker, Dorothy, 17

  Persona, 18–19

  “Phenomenal Woman” (poem), 18–19

  Poetry: and the blues, 18; censorship of, 76; and influences on, 16–17; and oral performances of, 21–22; and song, 16; and topics in, 18; and the use of a persona, 18. See also “California Prodigal,” “On the Pulse of Morning,” “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I Rise,” “When Great Trees Fall”

  Porgy and Bess (musical), 8, 24, 59, 102–5, 108, 115

  Purple Onion (cabaret), 108, 115

  Rape, theme of, 6, 28, 63–64, 69, 74, 78, 163

  Religion: in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 65–66, 69, 73; in Letter to My Daughter, 26–27; in Singi
n’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas, 104–7

  Rent parties, 115

  Ringgold, Faith, 2

  Roots (Alex Haley), 19, 32, 154–55

  Sanchez, Sonia, 97

  Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 15, 20, 35, 36–37, 163, 169, 174, 178

  Senghor, Leopold, 17

  Sexual Revolution, 172

  Shakespeare, William, 40, 166, 170

  Sheikela (African lover), 150, 166

  Simile, 112

  Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas: alternative reading (deconstructive): 113–15; character development, 103–9; conflict of opposites, 103–4; narrative point of view, 100–101, 102; plot development, 102–3; structure and setting, 101–3; style and literary devices, 111; thematic issues, 109–11; title of, 113–14; use of simile, 112

  Slave narrative, 51–56, 61, 112, 157–58

  Slavery: in Africa, 142, 155–57; in America, 25, 155–56

  Smiley, Tavis, 179

  A Song Flung Up to Heaven: alternate reading (reader-response), 174–76; and links to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 164, 168, 172, 178; narrative point of view, 160–62; plot development and character development, 164–69; setting, 169–70; structure, 162–64; style and literary devices, 172–74; thematic issues, 170–72; title of, 163–64; use of metaphor, 173–74

  Son-Jara (African epic), 51

  Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), 8, 116, 124

  Spencer, Anne, 16, 17

  Spielberg, Steven, 141

  Spiritual, 19, 20, 22, 25, 40, 55, 56–58, 61, 105, 138, 156, 163

  Standing at the Scratch Line (Guy Johnson), 12

  Stein, Gertrude, 39

  “Still I Rise” (poem), 19, 179

  Tolbrook, L. D. (lover), 88–89, 92–93, 98

  Two Fingers Mark (lover), 26, 28

  Vignette, 132–33, 146, 172–73

  Wake Forest University, 2, 5, 34, 36, 166, 177, 178

  Walker, Alice, 56, 97, 98, 141

  Watts (Los Angeles), 161

  Westboro Baptist Church, 177

  “When Great Trees Fall” (poem), 19, 179–80