Maya Angelou: Letters to My Daughter...

I decided to read a collection of short stories, poems and narratives. I enjoyed the book because Angelou dedicated it to all the daughters of every skin type and more: "black or white, Jewish or Muslim, fat or thin, gay or straight, educated or uneducated." I thought it made each and every story or poem told much stronger because Angelou did not discriminate.
Maya Angelou says, "You may not control all the events that happen to you but you can decide not to be reduced by them. If you try to make a change and if you can't make a change, then change the way you have been thinking." After I heard this, I though how inspirational this author is. I give this author a lot of respect because of how open she was with her struggles and coming forward to mention her idles that she looks up to and have changed her life. I felt like the author made the reader feel as if we were on the same level as her.
I found her struggles and issue that she mentioned to be as emotional as issues from the narrators in the first part of the semester. This being said, I allowed myself to think fondly and as inspiring as the earlier authors our class has read. Even though she did not live and suffer through the pains of slavery, she suffered through the loss of a daughter. She only had one son by the time she wrote thing book and was clearly at an age when she could have no more children. Hearing the pain and the agony that she went though is similar to the pain and suffering the slave narrators went through. I felt the same emotions while I was reading letter to my daughter and during the other tragic stories from this semester. I guess what mad me like it so much was the approach she took and the message she wanted to give to the readers. I appreciate how she took in mind the past, present, and future; I believe these qualities are what make her a great African American writer of today and I do truly believe that it should be recommended for the syllabus next semester. The reason I say this is because the style is simple, but the acknowledgement she gives her fellow colleagues and people as big as Oprah allows the reader to respect the author. The fact that the book is also Non-Fiction says a lot as well because I began to feel like it wasn't as choppy as Non-fiction can sometimes feel. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has taken this class, whether Theo adds it next semester or not.

P.S. this book makes you think about Silent Racism a little as well!!