Continuing my readalong with Meg and Ali of Maya Angelou’s autobiographies, this was our September read and a very good and interesting one it was, too. Ali’s excellent review is here.
Maya Angelou – “The Heart of a Woman”
(April 2021)
The black mother perceives destruction at every door, ruination at each window, and even she herself is not beyond her own suspicion. She questions whether she loves her children enough – or more terribly, does she love them too much … In the face of these contradictions, she must provide a blanket of stability, which warms but does not suffocate, and she must tell her children the truth about the power of white power without suggesting that it cannot be challenged. (p. 44)
We pick up this one a little after the end of the last one, which is a change from the previous books, which all ran on from one another. We left Angelou in Hawaii and here she is, living in a sort of commune, having dropped out of the system in some way. But, being Maya Angelou, she’s soon on the move again, with her son Guy, a teenager now and keen to take on manhood and responsibility.
Soon she’s in New York and getting involved with some serious activism, encountering Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and also meeting African freedom fighters exiled or visiting. It’s interesting to see that people in New York become keen on wearing African prints and natural hair becomes more fashionable/acceptable – her careful delineation of these changes helps this be a useful historical document.
She has good friends and has started writing seriously, joining a writers’ group and having that classic terrifying time the first time her work is critiqued. Soon she’s using her creative and administrative skills to work in an office supporting activism and organising, but she also meets yet another unsuitable man, this time Vus, a South African freedom fighter whose struggles she respects but also who attracts her. Engaged at the time, she has to sort things out amidst some genuine peril – peril which doesn’t stop when she becomes an official freedom fighter’s wife. Well, um …
I explained that i wanted to have my mother and son present at my wedding and asked if we could wait. he patted my cheek and said, ‘Of course. In London we will say we married in America. When we return to New York we will say we married in England. We will have our wedding according to your wishes and whenever you say. I am marrying you this minute. Will you say yes?’
I said yes.
‘Then we are married.’
We never mentioned the word marriage again. (p. 168)
Whose heart wouldn’t sink for her when reading that? Although was it a handy thing in the end …?
The encounters in this book with well-known figures, from a memorable week with Billie Holiday to the aforementioned activism leaders give a different fascination to the previous books. Life as an American expat in Africa, for yes, she eventually goes there, is also very interesting to read about – although, as usual, she risks ending up being thrown onto her own resources, and she always makes sure she can pay her way and support herself and Guy. That relationship with Guy also changes, however, naturally as he’s growing up and separating off from her, but also encouraged by Vus, who wants him to become an ‘African man’.
A great instalment and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I’m so glad I’m getting to read all of these magnificent volumes of autobiography!
It’s not a Book Synchronicity as such but when Angelou is flying from Egypt to Ghana and weeps through the whole flight for the African people who were snatched from their land by slave traders, it’s hard not to think instantly of Alex Haley’s “Roots” which I’m also reading at the moment.
wadholloway
Sep 22, 2021 @ 12:50:36
I was married for 13 years more or less on the basis above, had 3 kids, separated and got back together over 7 more years. In the 60s we thought weddings sanctioned by the government were a thing of the past. (I wish though we’d had the chance to go to London and New York!)
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Liz Dexter
Sep 23, 2021 @ 09:47:34
Interesting! Mr Liz and I were together for over a decade before deciding to get married, and the balking was mainly mine, although you wouldn’t have known that from all the “at last he’s doing the decent thing” style comments!
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Grab the Lapels
Sep 22, 2021 @ 13:03:11
Yesterday morning I was watching a news story about how Ghana saw the George Floyd protests and told African Americans that they were invited to come to Ghana and live. Over 5,000 African American since have moved to Ghana, and they profiled one woman who moved there and said she felt like she didn’t have to look over her shoulder all the time. The back to Africa movement picks up steam every few decades, and I wonder if it will be even bigger this time around.
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Liz Dexter
Sep 23, 2021 @ 09:48:24
That’s definitely how Angelou feels when she gets there and sees Black people in all the roles in society. And I have seen about that on the documentaries that Afua Hirsch did, though I don’t think I know anyone who has done that myself.
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kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 22, 2021 @ 14:42:07
Sounds absolutely fascinating, Liz – what a life she lead and what fascinating people she met. Marvellous. As for that marriage thing – men will twist things the way they want them….
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Liz Dexter
Sep 23, 2021 @ 09:49:15
Yes, indeed, although the lack of legality could be said to make it easier to escape (however she gets put through an actual “palaver” which was an alarming-sounding thing. The books are fascinating and I’m so glad I’ve taken the time to work my way through them.
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heavenali
Sep 23, 2021 @ 17:02:25
I will review this next week all being well. I really enjoyed it too, the activism was really fascinating.
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Liz Dexter
Sep 23, 2021 @ 17:05:09
I love how each book has a different emphasis and topic as we move through her life. I’ll look forward to reading your review and have enjoyed discussing it with you!
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Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
Sep 23, 2021 @ 22:24:22
What a fascinating book. I’m intrigued by hearing about all the activists she met and worked with.
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Liz Dexter
Sep 24, 2021 @ 08:01:06
Yes, it’s so interesting, hearing her direct experiences of these activists and exiles.
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buriedinprint
Sep 28, 2021 @ 16:16:25
In North America, this volume of her autobiography gained fresh interest on the bookselling circuit because it was the one selected by Oprah Winfrey for her monthly (at that time) bookclub, which not only brought Angelou onto the stage for a discussion but incited interest in her earlier books too. It was quite a thing. My copy had the little Oprah “seal” on it too!
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Liz Dexter
Sep 28, 2021 @ 20:23:37
Oh, that’s really interesting, I didn’t know that! It would be a funny one to read first as you need to know her relationships with her mother and Guy to really appreciate it, but at least it got her work better known.
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