4) .
SECTION 2 - Maya Angelou.
CHAPTER 1.
"Leaving behind nights of terror and fear.
I rise".
These first two lines of the last stanza of STILL I RISE showed that African-Americans could be in control of their own environment by influencing the system of hierarchy that was established in slavery. This was Angelou's encouragement that African-Americans could stand tall in the face of slavery and racism, paralleling how slaves were able to persevere by encouraging each other through songs and poems.
"I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise.
I rise.
I rise.".
Even during slavery, African-Americans did indeed still manage to stand tall in the public eye. This message is resonated in the ending lines of the final stanza.
The first chapter of WHEN AND WHERE I ENTER describes a "race man", a politically active member in the community. The "race man" encompassed the ideals of Angelou's final stanza in STILL I RISE. These are the men and women who have embraced the spirit of Ida B. Well's "to sell my life as dearly as possible" philosophy and sacrifice their lives for a cause.
Robert Church was shot in the head and still managed to not only live, but became a pillar of Memphis in the 1860's. Ida B. Well's father was also a race man in Mississippi who refused to be intimidated by the politics of his town. Robert Church lost his saloon and nearly lost his life. James Wells lost his job. (1-21, w&w).
CHAPTER 2.
The first line in the poem ("you may write me down in history / with your bitter, twisted lies") refers to the way that attitudes towards African-Americans have been embedded within our nation's history. Stereotypes and subconscious responses to African-Americans have been around since slavery, passed down from generation to generation - or, in a sense, "written down in history with bitter, twisted lies.".
In chapter two of WHEN AND WHERE I ENTER, the passage briefly describes how poorly records were kept and how flexible history was of manipulating the law to directly discriminate against African-Americans.
