"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself"
About this Quote
Angelou takes a desire that usually gets framed as private - comfort, belonging, the relief of not having to perform - and makes it both ordinary and radical. The opening move, "I long", lands in the body: not an idea, a pull. Then she widens the frame with "as does every human being", refusing to let longing be dismissed as personal weakness or niche identity politics. It is a claim of shared need, but also a quiet dare: if everyone wants this, why is "home" so unevenly distributed?
The line works because it turns "home" from a fixed address into a portable state. "Wherever I find myself" implies displacement, contingency, the sense that life - and history - can drop you into places you didn't choose. For a Black woman born in the Jim Crow South and shaped by migration, segregation, and the constant negotiation of safety, "home" is not sentimental wallpaper; it's a contested zone. The subtext is about being forced to translate yourself for other people's comfort, then naming that exhaustion without pleading.
Angelou's intent feels twofold: to normalize the hunger for belonging, and to redefine belonging as something you can practice, not just inherit. She doesn't ask permission. She asserts a human right to ease - to stand in any room, any city, any circumstance, and not be treated as a guest in your own life. That is poetry doing cultural work: a single sentence that holds trauma, resilience, and a blueprint for dignity.
The line works because it turns "home" from a fixed address into a portable state. "Wherever I find myself" implies displacement, contingency, the sense that life - and history - can drop you into places you didn't choose. For a Black woman born in the Jim Crow South and shaped by migration, segregation, and the constant negotiation of safety, "home" is not sentimental wallpaper; it's a contested zone. The subtext is about being forced to translate yourself for other people's comfort, then naming that exhaustion without pleading.
Angelou's intent feels twofold: to normalize the hunger for belonging, and to redefine belonging as something you can practice, not just inherit. She doesn't ask permission. She asserts a human right to ease - to stand in any room, any city, any circumstance, and not be treated as a guest in your own life. That is poetry doing cultural work: a single sentence that holds trauma, resilience, and a blueprint for dignity.
Quote Details
| Topic | Contentment |
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