Sassy Unicorns

Anti-Black Racism: Social Injustices and Prejudices in American Movement

A Critique

The Women's Rights Movement in America was legalized in the past decades,

from late 1848 to 1917. The Civil Rights Movement, which focused on the rights of
black Americans, is said to have occurred during the time period (1950-1960). Maya
Angelou, a black American citizen who influenced and inspired others with her
literary works, including "Still I Rise," which was published in 1978, the same year
that US President Jimmy Carter declared Women's Equality Day. Maya is also well-
known for her distinct and pioneering writing style. Aside from her remarkable
achievements, she suffered traumas as a result of some tragic encounters with her
mother's boyfriend, which resulted in her being silenced for six years. She was turned
down for jobs because of her race, but she was later hired as the first African-
American woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Despite her
anxiety disorders, she was able to write "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," an
autobiography of her childhood that discusses childhood trauma and racism. Amidst
her personal experiences with discrimination and racism, she did not let her guard
down, allowing her to speak out for victims and assist abuse survivors in telling their
own stories. In her lyric poem "Still I Rise," she expressed that being selfless and
powerless will never support the justice itself. It all comes down to overcoming low
self-esteem and having the courage to speak out against unlawful discrimination.

The poem addresses the difficulties of being a black woman, social

oppression, and the rise of racism. The legacy of slavery in America serves as a major
source of inspiration for Angelou. In "Still I Rise," she employs a number of poetic
devices as well as various figurative language styles. These include similes,
enjambment, anaphora, and alliteration. To emphasize the strength of Black resiliency
and establish a triumphant atmosphere, the phrases "Still I rise" and "I rise" were
repeatedly used. When she repeats "I rise, I rise, and I rise" at the end of the poem,
she is using enjambment, which makes the poem more compelling. "Still I Rise"
depicts the speaker, who is presumed to be a black woman, standing up to oppression
with courage. This oppressor, addressed throughout as “you,” is full of “bitter, twisted
lies” and “hatefulness” toward the speaker, and hopes to see the speaker “broken” in
both body and spirit. The poet’s purpose is to empower herself, as well as all those
who have questioned their abilities, strength, beauty, intelligence, or worth. This is
evident in lines like “You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I'll rise”.

In the said poem, Maya used end rhyme in the second and fourth line of each
stanza, though this pattern does change slightly at the end of the poem. An anapest,
two iambs, and occasionally an extrametrical syllable make up each line. These lines
begin with unstressed syllables, which is significant. In every stanza, every line
begins and ends on a stressed syllable, giving the speaker's confidence power more
relevant. She used punctuation marks carefully to force the reader to pause before and
after each repetition of "I rise," slowing the poem's pace and enhancing its sense of
peaceful inevitability. She changed the rhyme scheme in the final two stanzas, which
is referred to as repetition. Throughout the poem, Angelou frequently repeats the
phrase "I rise," which gives the poem a determined tone and a rhythm that
demonstrates endurance and lasting effects. In the sixth stanza, she starts each line out
with the words, "you may". This has the effect of highlighting how ongoing the
suffering is. Maya is trying to show that these are everyday occurrences for her and
not just a one-time thing to the readers. The change of her words from "I'll rise" to "I
rise" shows a fulfillment of the narrator's initial promise by bringing the act of rising
from the future to the present tense. The poem does contain a semi-irregular meter.
Each stanza's meter is altered by Angelou to highlight particular words. She used
“dust” as a metaphor for the resiliency shared by Black Americans in general and
Black American women in particular. In the first stanza of the poem, she makes
reference to dust while simultaneously acknowledging and rejecting American
society's attempt to break her spirit. As we've seen in the poem, some of the stanzas
have imperfections.

The strength of the poem is based on how it was segregated to convey

emotions as well as her resolve to combat injustice worldwide. It has short, direct
sentences that address the reader directly. It is a nine-stanza poem that's separated into
uneven sets of lines. The first seven stanzas contain four lines, known as quatrains,
stanza eight has six lines and the ninth has nine. The first seven stanzas follow a
rhyme scheme of ABCB, the eighth: ABABCC, and the ninth: ABABCCBBB. The
poem is based on the author's viewpoint and her own experiences with discrimination
and social injustices, making it subjective. The suggested rating that we can give in
the poem in accordance with the 7 literary standards written by William J. Long
consists of the following; universality, artistry, intellectual value, suggestiveness,
spiritual value, permanence, and style. The poem speaks to all communities and
people who desire to overcome an issue. It is said that Maya succeeded in its purpose
as it continues to reach readers and audiences’ decades after it was first published in
1978, cutting across racial lines and national boundaries. The recommended audience
is widespread. This can teach readers many things and inspire them as well.

Maya Angelou urged black Americans to stand up for their human rights and
to not be scared to say what is right because of how long they have been oppressed
and mistreated in America. We appreciate Maya Angelou's attitude because of this.
She is a courageous woman who stood up for her own race against prejudice and
harsh treatment. As a result, Maya Angelou deserves to win a prize like the Nobel
Prize for Literature. She has been incredibly inspirational and impactful in recent
years.
 References:
Biography: Maya Angelou. (n.d.). National Women’s History Museum.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maya-angelou?
fbclid=IwAR3WyvmT1U0gY8blt2sJZUNmmHCSM_SG-
O_IyKGWokViGTEu_1wP5qdz4IA#:~:text=On%20April%204%2C%201928%2C
%20Marguerite,Arkansas%20at%20an%20early%20age

Poetry Foundation. (n.d.). Maya Angelou | Poetry Foundation.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/maya-angelou?fbclid=IwAR3_S8whLMNL9-
0t4dIjeyLe3iV_IMvbk9WAuMxL_YjA8spsWfhe5xl0S9U

Adl, C. R. M. |. (2023, January 30). Civil Rights Movement | ADL. ADL.

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/civil-rights-movement?
fbclid=IwAR1u75TSDi5URBmcpxKeWD06ms0qyQxZxT2jVNYGWh1Vl06Yw3MWFQe8
jUA

Contributor, E. (2022, December 9). The 7 Literary Standards. ELCOMBLUS: Your

Academic Buddy. https://www.elcomblus.com/literary-standards/#:~:text=The%20seven
%20literary%20standards,developed%20by%20writer%20William%20J.

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/does-the-author-of-still-i-rise-use-rhyme-1145672?
fbclid=IwAR0kSLRlaUdtQBxJSew16JacWnxFzYdHha4i3vsjzVJEJ_6cNPGMYrtLAFY

STRUCTURE AND FORM OF THE POEM

 Line - 43 lines
 Stanza - 9
 Rhyme - 1-7 stanza (abcb)
- 8 stanza (ababcc)
- 9 stanza (ababccbbb)
 Format - closed
 Figurative language:
1. Tone/mood - the tone of the poem is admiring, hopeful, and passionate.
2. Diction - the first, anaphora, is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning
of multiple lines, usually in succession. Anaphora, alliteration, enjambment, and
similes.
3. Meter - it is written in free verse, meaning that it does not have a regular meter or
rhyme scheme.