ofessor of American Studies at Wake Forrest University in North Carolina. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou wrote "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" to express the hardships of growing up a black woman in the time of racism and hatred. During this autobiography of Maya's life, she tells about how racist people are against her and her family, along with every other black, and how being a girl is also hard due to rapes and having to have children. People were also very religious at this time to the point that if someone did something against the religion, they would receive a beating. When Maya was three, and Bailey, her brother, four, they both
             ...