Journal #4

4. If you could go back in time and be someone in history, who would you choose to be? Why?

If I could go back in history I would like to be a person like Maya Angelou. I believe Angelou is dependent strong woman that wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and cite all of the obvious injustices going on that everyone was blinded by and perceived them as the “correct” way to be. She was proud of whom she was and nobody could make her believe different. Angelou wasn’t just born in a time when people of color where inferior if not also a time when woman had no voice or little say in what was going on. A time where nobody cared about you if you an African-American especially not an African-American woman. That’s exactly what Maya Angelou was a proud African-American woman whiling to fight for justice of equality for her people of race. Angelou’s famous autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, illustrates how will power and strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. She also was active in the Civil Rights movement, and served as Northern Coordinator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.