Africa.

Africa- Maya Angelou.

Summary-

In the first stanza of the poem, Africa is portrayed as a complex and pretty ridiculously hot woman – eternal and eternally gorgeous. No, we're not at all jealous. Not at all. Things take a turn for the worse in Stanza 2: Africa is invaded by brigands that steal men and women. There's lots of killing. And some forced religious conversion. It's all pretty awful. In stanza 3 is where Africa starts to grab some power for itself. Now the passive woman who suffered throughout the years is "rising," ready and able to take on the world.

The poem is about a Africa, and the hardships it went through, especially with the pressure and violence of Europeans and the slave trade. In the first stanza, Africa is being described as a beautiful woman with the "mountains her breats" and "deserts her hair", but Africa is also described as a sad woman, with the line "two niles her tears". It also specifically mentions the color of her skin; black and and states that she has been black throughout the years. Interesting to note, considering the colonizaiton of parts Africa by the British, since we know at this time many white people were moving to this area and to this day, South Africa and other parts remain prodominately white. The second stanzas describes the domination of the European over Africa and all the things that were forced upon them; such as religion, the slave trade, the violence, etc. The third stanza changes the tone, and becomes much more strong and full of courage. It describes Africa sticking up for itself and finally screaming out about the injustices.

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