Film Review: "Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise: Biography Of An Influential Civil Rights Activist And Poet"

Over the weekend, I used Kanopy to watch Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise: Biography of an Influential Civil Rights Activist and Poet, a 2017 documentary on Maya Angelou's life.

Dr. Angelou was a master of words and inciting emotion within her words, as we can read in her beloved works, and it feels almost more intense to hear the words directly from her mouth. To see her recount her own life in detail, and to see the pain that stayed by her side into adulthood and see her smile, full of remarkable joy, regardless, is quite moving.

The documentary follows her traumatic childhood and the selective mutism she adapted to survive, as well as how reading and poetry gave her a light in dark times. It also touches on her son and her marriages throughout the years. Within the timeline of the film, there are many clips of Dr. Angelou speaking on her own life and how she came to be who she was, as well as clips of her friends and family, such as her son, Cicely Tyson, Oprah Winfrey, and many more. Her friends spoke of her fight and desire for freedom, and of how she spent the entirety of life loving others and giving all that she had to bring justice. 

As the documentary continued, it delved into her time living in Africa and her friendships with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and the way Dr. Angelou spoke of how much she looked up to them and how devastated she was when she found out they'd been killed.

Emotion pours out of this film and envelops its audience with it. I learned a ton about Maya Angelou and even what I already knew was seen in a new light after watching her speak about it directly. 

The documentary was very well done and respectful of Dr. Angelou and her life. I recommend it to anyone, whether you know a little or a lot about her already.

With a Birmingham Public Library card, you can watch this documentary on Kanopy or read her works through our catalog. 

By Julie Higginbottom | Library Assistant Ⅲ, North Birmingham Regional Branch Library