Maya Angelou "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes" Signed First Edition, Leather-Bound [Sealed]

Personally signed by Maya Angelou, important to history for her groundbreaking work in literature, civil rights activism, and as a cultural icon who used her voice to promote empowerment and resilience.

The Franklin Library 1986. Maya Angelou "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes" Signed First Edition. Personally signed by Maya Angelou. Leather bound collector's edition with hubbed spine. Hardcover. Octavo. 211 pages. Bound in publisher's green leather with gilt lettering and decorations. Very Fine, sealed without any flaws.

Reviews

"An important document drawing more much-needed attention to the hidden history of a people both African and American." —Los Angeles Times Book Review

"This is a superb account by a great woman who has embraced a difficult destiny with rare intelligence and infectious joie de vivre." —The Boston Globe

"Maya Angelou regards the world and herself with intelligence and wit; she records the events of her life with style and grace." —The Washington Post Book World

"Angelou's journey into Africa is a journey into herself, into that part of every Afro-American's soul that is still wedded to Africa, that still yearns for a home." —Chicago Tribune Book World
From the Publisher

"An important document drawing more much-needed attention to the hidden history of a people both African and American."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes

In 1962 the poet, musician, and performer Maya Angelou claimed another piece of her identity by moving to Ghana, joining a community of "Revolutionist Returnees" inspired by the promise of pan-Africanism. All God's Children Need Walking Shoes is her lyrical and acutely perceptive exploration of what it means to be an African American on the mother continent, where color no longer matters but where American-ness keeps asserting itself in ways both puzzling and heartbreaking. As it builds on the personal narrative of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name, this book confirms Maya Angelou’s stature as one of the most gifted autobiographers of our time.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, essayist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.[3] Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. In 1982, Angelou was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.

With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family, and travel.