Caged Bird Sings Power

“I saw only her power and strength...Her voice was soft only because she chose to keep it so¨ (Angelou 46). This person who Maya Angelou is referring to in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is Annie Henderson, Angelou’s southern grandmother. She is also known as Momma. As we follow Angelou’s coming-of-age story living back and forth between her divorced parents and Momma in Stamps, Arkansas, Momma unfolds to us as being strong on the inside without having to use words to convey her power. Facebook’s CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, also shows that quiet people can be successful. These two strong figures prove that the quietest people can often be the most powerful.
During the Jim Crow era, racism was normalized and happened
However, Momma proves to be a strong black woman by using silence as her way of resisting the racism she experienced in segregated Stamps. When Angelou was ten years old, she gone through the “most painful and confusing experience” of having to watch her grandmother being mocked by three white girls as she hide inside her grandmother’s store (Angelou 29). The girls each took turns aping different aspects of Momma such as her distinct carriage to her “pooched” mouth (30). One girl even had the nerve to show Momma her pubic hair. As Maya was threatening to aim a .450 shotgun at the girls, Momma felt indifferent towards them. She simply hummed a song as she watched, standing outside her store. When the girls departed, they said bye to Momma. Surprisingly, Momma had the heart to say bye back. This confrontation proves that Momma have strong endurance against the horrors of racism. In another sense, this experience is a victory for Momma. Her refusal to take refuge in her store shows that she does not succumb to their acts of discrimination. She remained calm and mature towards the girls’ rude behaviors, which made them look like the
During his childhood, he often isolated himself to work on programming computer games and other applications. He was so interested in computers that his parents hired him a computer tutor, but soon it was discovered that he was a prodigy with computers. Over the course of the years, Mark continued creating different games, applications, and other programs until he dropped out of Harvard University to work on Facebook. He was described by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg as “...shy and introverted and...often does not seem very warm to people who don’t know him,” however he proved to the world that being introverted is powerful. He spent many hours by himself gaining knowledge and studying the social interactions of the world. As a result of his hard work, Facebook was created. Facebook changes the way people communicated; it allows easy and fast communication among the younger and older generations separated by miles of water and land. It also allows people to play games, catch up on news, and advertise their business/products/services all in one place. Zuckerberg is also making other changes in the world by donating millions of dollars to hospitals and research foundations. His contributions to the world has become his greatest achievements as a result of being an