#1 "Campion of the World"-Maya Angelou

Each and every day I can't help but to sometimes measure up my life and weigh the pros and cons. Sometimes I catch myself thinking "Woe is me"; and repeatedly find that I can't rid myself of the petty circumstances that constantly weigh on my mind. What I think is "daily struggle" is nothing in comparison to what others in our history have faced. We as Americans take for granted what God has blessed us with. We have the freedom to say what we feel, to dress how we like, and ultimately be who WE want to be. Unlike us, Maya Angelou lived in a period of American history that didn't allow her to live a life full of freedom. This discrimination was placed unjustly upon her just because she was African-American. Maya Angelou, despite most of U.S. citizens, did not find her race inferior; but in fact superior. This is visibly seen in a book that she wrote called, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. At this moment, however, I would like to focus on an excerpt from her book of chapter nineteen: Champion of the World. Throughout this specific excerpt, Maya takes the reader on a somewhat paradoxical journey; because although the story is about a man conquering, the reader is still left feeling as if he were defeated. Ms. Angelou briefly recollects on a memory about a man, Joe Louis: "The Brown Bomber", who defended his heavyweight title against a white contender. He was soon recognized among the black community as a hero. Maya Angelou writes about that specific night that he won. However, this story was not told just to reflect the struggle, and ultimately overcome of an African- American boxer. On the contrary, this story was told to convey the sense of struggle the black race had faced for years; and subsequently still faced after the defeat by Joe Louis. Describing the punches that Louis faced during the fight, Maya writes, "My race groaned. It was my people falling. It was another lynching, yet another black man hanging on a tree."  Every punch that Louis received, was a punch that African Americans had been taking for years before. Symbolically, Maya hoped that like Joe Louis had overcome, so would her people. Ironically enough, Joe Louis proved that his people were the strongest in the world, even though they were said by others to be the weakest. Next time you think you are struggling, look up the definition of struggle.