I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, one of the most widely censored books
             in the United States, is the autobiography of Maya Angelou and her struggles
             growing up in a segregated town in Arkansas called Stamps. Most of this book
             takes place in her hometown of Stamps, where she lived with her grandmother
             (whom she called Momma) her Uncle Willie, and her brother, Bailey Junior. At
             age three she was sent by her parents with her brother to Stamps. On the
             train from California they felt all alone and frightened. When they got
             to Stamps they lived in a general store with Momma. Dealing with a KKK
             incident and "powhitetrash girls" with no manners was very hard on Maya in
             these younger years of her life. It caused her to become isolated in her
             school work and to forget about having friends other than Bailey. But with
             Sister Monroe's (local religious enthusiast) wild "I say preach its",
             "Praise the Lords", and the minister's teeth flying around Maya kept her
             spirits alive. Slowly but surely the Depression hits Stamps, even though it
             had seemed to be protected from it, according to Maya.
             Suddenly, Maya's father shows up in Stamps and tells Bailey and
             Maya that they are going to see their mother in St. Louis. Maya was shy in
             meeting her mother who was very outgoing, just the opposite of Maya. While
             in St. Louis, Maya is raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, who
             was later found dead after Maya testified against him in court. Maya's
             mother "doesn't want them anymore" again and sends them back to Stamps. Maya,
             because of the rape, now becomes even more withdrawn and refuses to speak
             until Momma takes her to Bertha Flowers. Bertha shows Maya how beautiful
             words can sound and inspires her to talk again. About this same time there
             was an important boxing match that took place between Joe Louis and a white
             man for the Heavy Weight Championship. When Joe won, M...