Imagine, seventy-four years ago, an African American who had just returned from war walking into a restaurant and not being served because of the oppressive Jim Crow laws. Little human dignity was afforded to African Americans living in the 1930s and 1940s in the segregated South. Black people, especially women, did not have a happy upbringing because it was illegal to acquire and obtain books during this time (Depression 117). Despite these difficulties, Maya Angelou received more than 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 despite such numerous and difficult challenges. His novel takes place 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, experiencing racism and discrimination in the South and having suffered sexual abuse. Life was a constant struggle for African Americans living during the era of the Great Depression. Very few of them had jobs and those who were lucky enough to have a job were forced to give it up to a white man who had lost his job. Many became homeless and crowded into small slums with several other people (Depression 211). Many jobs fell victim to boycotts and riots that quickly led to violence, such as the burning of a paper mill in St. Louis (Lynch, African American Life). The Great Depression was the result of the stock market crash of October 29, 1929. More than half of the population was unemployed and could not afford to feed their families. Fortunately, 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 an art in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou.” South Atlantic Bulletin.1976. 106-11. Rep. In novels for students. Ed. Melvin J. Friedman. Flight. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 134-60. Print.Smith, Sidonie Ann, “The Song of a Caged Bird: Maya Angelou's Quest for Self-Acceptance.” » The journal of human sciences of the South. Auburn University, 1973. 365-75. Rep. In Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Flight. 12. Detroit: Gale, 1980. 9-11. Print. Taylor, Nicholas J. “Jim Crow Laws.” National Park Service. US Department of the Interior, February 14, 2013. Web. March 7. 2014.