Why Does the Caged Bird Sing, Anyways?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an autobiography. It is also, however, a wonderful story, full of amazingly vivid characters, beautiful metaphors, and simply gorgeous writing.
I was reading this book during my gym class–as one does–and found myself next to a very chatty girl. "Hahahaha," she laughed at her own joke before she said it, "Have you found out why the caged bird sings yet? Hahahaha!" While my classmate was not particularly funny and frankly distracted me from my reading, it did make me wonder. How would Maya Angelou answer that question? It's never said explicitly in the book; that would be too brash. Why does the caged bird sing?
The caged bird is the oppressed one. The caged bird is women, blacks, Marguerite Johnson or Maya Angelou as a child. In her early childhood, Marguerite faced the prejudice of the whites in her town. She was raped and felt the repercussions and shame for years afterwards. Marguerite was attacked by her step mother, forcing her to run away into a dump for a month. She faced many other hardships and became pregnant out of wedlock. Her escape from these trials was also books and learning. From the kindly old lady in her town teaching her about the importance of language to "falling in love with William Shakespeare," books and reading always had a special place in Maya Angelou's life, which is explanatory of her fantastic writing as an adult.
The caged bird, an oppressed child, the singer, a poet. Maya Angelou, and many other artists who are or have been oppressed, utilizes her artistry to express her emotions, beliefs, and life.
I heard one of Maya Angelou’s poems being read on the radio last year, and it transfixed me. I actually sat in my garage for an extra few minutes until the poem had finished. There was nothing I wanted to read more than more Maya Angelou, but my to-read shelf was already. When I was in an independent bookstore in New York City a couple of weeks ago and I found a beautiful and cheap copy of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, I knew I had to buy it and start reading, and it was a wonderful decision on my part. I wept over this book and laughed out loud, I underlined and dog-earred my way through pages of gorgeous prose, I binge-read sections and took others in page by page. I can't wait to read I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings again, as I do with all of the books that have been heavily influential in my life.