Imagine seventy-four years ago, an African American just back from war walking into a restaurant and not being served due to oppressive Jim Crow laws. In the 1930s and 1940s little human dignity was given to African Americans living in the segregated South. Blacks, especially women, were not given a happy education because it was illegal to acquire and obtain books during this time period (Depression 117). Despite these difficulties, Maya Angelou received over fifty honorary degrees for her novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Women Memoirist 43). Faced with the dilemma of learning to read and write, one might wonder how one of the best African American authors of all time was able to thrive during such multiple and impeding difficulties. His novel is set in the Deep South in the midst of cultural and political reform. Written in 1969, the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, written by Maya Angelou, was deeply influenced by growing up during the Great Depression, facing racism and discrimination in the South, and enduring sexual abuse. Life was a constant struggle for African Americans living in the Depression era. Very few had a job and those who were lucky enough to have some work were forced to give it up to a white man who had lost his job. Many were left homeless and crammed into small shacks along with many other people (Depression 211). Many workplaces experienced boycotts and riots that quickly led to violence, such as a paper mill fire in St. Louis (Lynch, African American Life). The Great Depression was the result of the stock market crash on October 29, 1929. More than half the population was unemployed and could not afford to feed their families. Luckily the New......middle of paper......nch, Hollis. “African American Life During the Great Depression and the New Deal.” Encyclopedia Britannica online. Encyclopedia Britannica, July 6, 2012. Web. March 10, 2014. McElvain, Robert S. The Great Depression: America 1929-1941. New York: Random House-Three Rivers, 1984. Print.McMurry, Myra. “Role-playing as art in Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird.” South Atlantic Bulletin.1976. 106-11. Rpt. In Novels for Students. Ed. Melvin J. Friedman. vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 134-60. Print.Smith, Sidonie Ann, “The Song of a Caged Bird: Maya Angelou's Quest for Self-Acceptance.” The Southern Humanities magazine. Auburn University, 1973. 365-75. Rpt. In contemporary literary criticism. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. vol. 12. Detroit: Gale, 1980. 9-11. Print.Taylor, Nicholas J. “Jim Crow Laws.” National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 14 February 2013. Web. 07 March. 2014.