A song flung up to heaven reveals as Maya Angelou, an African American political activist, returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X, but first had to go to California (San Francisco) to re-unite with her mother and Brother Bailey. She arrives in California and comes to find out that Malcolm X has been assassinated.
Maya devastated, she couldn’t do anything but she tried putting her life back together. She worked on the stage and in local theatres in Hawaii and even doing door-to- door surveys to the people in Watts.
On a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King Jr. who then asks her to become his co-coordinator in the North and she visits lots of Black Churches all over America to help support King’s poor People’s March. (A campaign he started)
But once again a tragedy strikes Maya. Martin Luther King Jr. is killed, and this time Maya was completely withdrawn from the world, unable to deal with this tragic event. Finally someone forces her out of her withdrawal and asked her to accompany him to a dinner party.
The main reason I chose to read this book is because Maya Angelou is a political activist and she was an inspiration to me as nothing tends to get her down, though there were tough times in her life she never gave up hope. She always persisted and kept striving for what she wanted and what she thought was best for her.
She inspired me, as I am an aspiring journalist who loves the idea of politics. It has also inspired me to go out there and experience new challenges, as a youth you always need to be faced with new challenges all the time, because those challenges could give you a different outlook on life.
It has made me realise that women can strive for anything they want and it changed me in the way that I don’t give up so easily any longer. I have learnt to have patience and that things take time to happen, and no matter what occurs you must learn to overlook it and carry on with your life.
People will never carry things to you on a gold platter, you need to go out there and get what is meant for you. This book has made me become a more independent person.
The language in this book is quite formal, and is easy to read and make sense of. I am not someone that is easily attracted to reading a book but this book has caught me by surprise. As they say never judge a book by its cover.
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