Cucinellaargues that Angelou has written poetry, plays, and screenplays, a cookbook, juvenile literatureAngelou has written poetry, plays, and screenplays, a cookbook, juvenile literature, and ?ve autobiographical novels.

Racism, courage, hope, sisterhood, self-worth, and sexuality compose her major themes. However, love and humanity emerge as the predominate concerns in Angelou’s work. As a child, Angelou lived under racist Jim Crow laws. Crippling segregation, and the courage to rise above it, are also prevalent themes in her novels and poetry. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she writes of several painful childhood memories involving racism, and she employs the theme of racism through the devices of memory in both her prose and poetry (14).4-3 The CircumstancesMaya Angelou wrote this poem “Still I rise” for certain reasons. She was an active participant in the civil rights movement, she gives her voice for all the black women to defend their rights, because they were neglected by society for their colour; their history of slavery.

That’s why Maya Angelou wrote the poem still I rise, because it saw that is the time for things to change; in the better way. Black women were neglected socially and politically and they were not integrated in many aspects.Black women are the labour’s lowest hanging wages or any benefits; they cannot be a priority for any union. The opportunity to assume important positions in the union; is not a priority for the labour movement.Black women do not have the right to make decisions in all sectors of society. Some statistics improved that the percentage of the valuable work of the black women is more than in the white women. Black women like the white women have the complete right to take position of leader, regardless of the social class; or the stage they are at in their career; or gender; colour; race……etc. Black women have the right to participate in the elections, black women wants to deliver their voices, ideas, and concerns of those labour black women.

Black women have the desire to take the position of leader not just for themselves but also for creating more balance for the issues of the black women; provides equal opportunities for all. However, the labour movement do not listen when the issue concerns the black woman, because it thinks that there is no position of leader for the black woman.The labour movement underestimate the black women, their hard work is exploited and unrecognized. Maya Angelou portrayed the valuable being and the great ability of the black woman, and what she able to do.Maya Angelou in her poem ” Still I rise ” focused on themes of racism, discrimination to give the light on the black woman because she was racist and there is no justice for her. The production of the poem still I riseexists during one of the most successful periods of Maya Angelou’s career.4.

4 The analysis of the poem “Still I Rise “The poem of Maya Angelou is broken into nine stanzas, each stanza gives her own meaning. But the all stanzas are related to each other because, the all nine stanzas speaks about the message of the poem and what Maya Angelou wants to send to the readers. Maya Angelou in her poem Still I Rise tries to send to the society that no matter the circumstances, no matter what you will do, I will rise, I will be strong.Maya Angelou ‘spoemaddresses the white oppressors, the racist people, people who underestimate the black woman because of her shame history of slavery. But Maya Angelou claims that our past will not affect our future and we will not live in fear and terror because of our history, she will rise until the end and she will stand up in the face of pain and in the face of the oppressors.

Maya Angelou repeated ” I rise ” many times in the poem, this is a prove that no matter the situation, she will make her dreams come true , and she will be what she wants to be.Stanza 1In this stanza, Maya Angelou gives of her heart and soul to declare that nothing and no one could oppress her or keep her down. She doesn’t care what the history books saw, for she knows they are full of “twisted lies”.

She will not let it bother her that others “trod” her “in the very dirt”. She proclaims that if she is trodden in the dirt, that she will rise like dust (” Still I Rise”).