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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
The last few chapters had such an air of melancholy it was so hard to finish. Once again, Maya Angelou has absolutely wrecked me.
OK, so it was a long flight... I really did finish two books!
This autobiographical tale of the author's time in Ghana was a cultural eye opener. I delighted in the colloquial interchanges Angelou describes among her acquaintances in Ghana. This book was a light into a culture that I could never experience. Themes of racism and patriotism ring throughout the work.
This autobiographical tale of the author's time in Ghana was a cultural eye opener. I delighted in the colloquial interchanges Angelou describes among her acquaintances in Ghana. This book was a light into a culture that I could never experience. Themes of racism and patriotism ring throughout the work.
informative
medium-paced
This is my second reading and surprisingly, I liked it a lot less than the first reading. The first time I had not yet visited Ghana, after this reading I had experienced Accra, Aburi and the year of the routine which may have colored this reading. In this book Maya Angelou wrestles with the Africa in her imaginary - a long lost home - and is met with a cool and distant country that doesn't quench her thirst for a true homecoming. She says "We had come to Africa from our varying starting places and with myriad motives, gaping with hungers, some more ravenous than others, and we had little tolerance for understanding being ignored. At least we wanted someone to embrace us and maybe congratulate us because we had survived. If they felt the urge, they could thank us for having returned."
I think this is the sentiment many Black Americans are met with when they are faced with countries that are more than a backdrop of our longing. At times the book embarrassed me with what I read this second time to be a colonial mindset of looking to a storied Africa to fill your desires - taking without regard for what you're offering or the impact of your presence. It made me think of how I personally move through space as a frequent traveler and ble we can be more nuanced in our conversations about what makes a true Black diaspora. A more generous interpretation would be to say this is what mourning looks like. To sit with what it feels like as a Black American to feel homeless and unmoored met with the reality of an African country that has moved on without you. This is still a good read and a great reminder to reread books more often because what you get from them shifts and changes as you do. The anecdotes and peeks into the behind the scenes of the discussions and struggles of the Black intelligentsia of the time were a real joy to read.
I think this is the sentiment many Black Americans are met with when they are faced with countries that are more than a backdrop of our longing. At times the book embarrassed me with what I read this second time to be a colonial mindset of looking to a storied Africa to fill your desires - taking without regard for what you're offering or the impact of your presence. It made me think of how I personally move through space as a frequent traveler and ble we can be more nuanced in our conversations about what makes a true Black diaspora. A more generous interpretation would be to say this is what mourning looks like. To sit with what it feels like as a Black American to feel homeless and unmoored met with the reality of an African country that has moved on without you. This is still a good read and a great reminder to reread books more often because what you get from them shifts and changes as you do. The anecdotes and peeks into the behind the scenes of the discussions and struggles of the Black intelligentsia of the time were a real joy to read.
And now we come to [a:Maya Angelou|3503|Maya Angelou|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1379017377p2/3503.jpg]'s fifth autobiography; [b:All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes|7697443|All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes|Maya Angelou|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348289395s/7697443.jpg|524742]. This is a 240 pages book which has 42 chapters but most of them are super tiny which is perfect if you get easily distracted. Naturally I recommend reading the entire series, but somehow this volume has an independent soul. Maya had finally embraced her Africanism by spending some quality time in Ghana. Fate or chance brought her back to the black continent but was she complacent enough?
There is a flood of emotions and touching moments portrayed in this book, and if none of that managed to get under your skin then I don't know what on earth would. If you've ever felt insecure at some point of your life, found yourself in a constant battle between comforting faith and doubtful denial, fought for a cause with the realization that you have little chance to win, had to prove yourself to people you don't owe them shit, then Maya's works were made for you.
Two great people gather together in Ghana: Malcolm X and Maya Angelou.
__________
Maya Angelou's Autobiographies:
1) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
2) Gather Together in My Name.
3) Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas.
4) The Heart of a Woman.
5) All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes.
6) A Song Flung Up to Heaven.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
I feel like because I was spoiled with the rich melody and cadence of Maya Angelou's voice in my recent revisiting of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, I just couldn't get back into her writing without wishing I could consume it in audio form. Her voice is something else entirely. But this book humanized her further and shed daring light on some of her flaws, which only made me love her more.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced