No Black Women Are Losers

This thesis uses black feminism and womanism as the main literary critical approaches and analyzes three black mother images in the contemporary Afro-American authoress Maya Angelou’s autobiographical novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Mrs. Annie Henderson, as a representative of the grandmother generation, is the bearer of the black folk wisdom and the instructor of the black values; moreover, she defends the black woman’s dignity strongly. Vivian Baxter Johnson, as a representative of the mother generation, divorces her unhappy marriage bravely and makes a life independently, and she is an open-minded instructive mother.Marguerite Johnson, as a representative of the daughter generation, suffers from the unspeakable pain during her childhood as a rape victim at the age of seven, but under her grandmother’s tender care and herself voracious reading, she gradually recovers and becomes self-aware about her identity and the blacks cultural identity. In spite of countless sufferings and difficulties they encounter, these mothers still love life and live gracefully. They are the winners of life, which proves that “No black women are losers”. These mothers take all the burdens of life in the family without males’ share and support, and win the dignity of their lives. Their survival spirits also inspire and encourage countless mothers nowadays to face setbacks, frustrations and harshness in their lives.