The Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement is one of the main themes of "The Heart of a Woman" by Maya Angelou. Angelou was involved in civil rights before the movement even had a name. The book mentions rights and racism from page one; how it affected the author, her family and friends, and the entire black community. The first major interaction between Angelou and the civil rights movement took place when Angelou went to a Harlem church to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. From that moment onward, Angelou devoted even more of herself to trying to right the wrongs thrust upon blacks at the hands of racists and those who supported ethnic oppression.

Angelou went to work for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The first activity for Angelou was to participate in a revue to raise money for the organization. The revue, titled "Cabaret for Freedom...