Summary:
In Chapter 23 of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", Maya describes her eighth grade graduation. This event is very important in this town because many of the people in Stamps have only made it to eighth grade. She is very excited to be there until she reaches her seat, where she becomes uneasy and believes something may ruin the event. A white speaker, Mr. Edward Donleavy, explains to her class that many of the whites will have the chance to become scientists and educated minds and many of the black boys may become the next great athlete. Maya is offended because he insinuates that only black boys can achieve greatness through athletics and not academics. She becomes ashamed and wishes that everybody, including herself, were dead. However, Henry Reed, the valedictorian, comes up for his speech at which he ends by leading his class in singing "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing." Maya listens to the lyrics of the song for the first time and, for the very first time, takes pride in being an African American.
Response:
I enjoyed the roller coaster of this chapter. It begins in a higher note with everyone excited about graduating but then Maya foreshadows an unexpected event that will ruin it. I like how her pessimism is used as a tool to predict the terrible event. It's more like she can see the future than her just being pessimistic. How the white speaker angered her was also very important. Not only would she not be academically successful because she is black,but she will also not be athletically successful because she is a woman. It was an attack on both her race and gender. However, I was happy to see how the chapter ends. Maya was able, for the first time, be proud of her race and who she is.
I agree with Anthony because this chapter has a lot of meaning to it. This white speaker for one insults her the most since she is a woman and black which leads her to not becoming anything. I think it's also crazy how she can pretty much predict the future in what will happen. I kind of like the fact that she expects the worst in things instead of having her hopes up. I enjoyed the ending of this chapter because it brings out her pride and joy of her race and who she is which changes her perspective in the last chapters of the book.
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