Maya Angelou's Womanism in "The Heart of a Woman" Josephine Zote College

Maya Angelou’s series of seven autobiographies collectively captures the various sections of her enthralling and turbulent life. The Heart of a Woman (1981), as her fourth autobiography is an account of the beginning of her writing career, her encounters with several political figures, her active involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, and her relationship with her son Guy. “Maya Angelou concentrates on the biography sub-genre as a vital tool of self-expression at the personal level as well as the collective levels” (Kolawole 190). Through a description of her personal experiences and relationships, Angelou manages to draw out a number of social, political, and cultural issues pervading the environment which serves as the backdrop of her memoir. This particular volume is possibly the most political of her autobiographies as it touches on the period of her life where she was an active member of the Civil Rights Movement and was also involved in the African struggle for freedom. However, the text differs from a historical text in that it is able to focus on the personal experiences and relationships of the author amidst all the socio-political turbulences. According to Mary Kolawole, “(b)y drawing attention to her personal...