hile she is temporarily separated from her son,ending her marriage with Tosh Angelos and coping with the loss of AnnieHenderson. Much of Angelous struggle in this third and incredibly complexautobiography, concerns her role as a mother versus a social role as acommitted actress, where she feels it is necessary to leave her son for aperiod of time. As she decides to go to Europe to perform in Porgy and Bess,Angelou gains cognizance in that, if she leaves her son with her mother, shewill be repeating a pattern that her mother forced upon her when she was achild(American Writers 6) June Jordan of Contemporary Literary Criticism, explains to readersthat Singin and Swingin is at times a delightful reading whereas, at others,times is not at all(Page 13). The unabashed, positive energies and the happyresourcefulness of this woman compel your respect, and certainly you wishher well as she hurtles from week to week, place to place, trial to victory,adds Jordan. Mindfully hidden in this autobiography is the absence of MommaHenderson, who in previous autobiographies, is a comfort and influence toAngelous actions. The account of her death possibly, is the most powerful emotional demonstration of her autobiographies(Magills Survey of AmericanLiterature 2253). To Angelou, the African American spirituals in this storyare, sweeter than sugar. I wanted to keep my mouth full ofthem...(American Writers 7). This figure can be looked at as the negativeimages of the trifling mother in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Gather Together in My Name and Singin and Swingin are what leadinto The Heart of a Woman, where she recounts seven years of her life(1957-1963) and her active participation with the civil rights movement aswell as the womens movement(Modern American Women Writers 4).In this story, it is the period of the early civil rights marches, ofMalcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is also a period when MayaAngelou, according to...
