Autobiography: All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes

Introduction
"All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes" is the 5th publication in the seven-volume memoir series by African-American author and also poet Maya Angelou. Published in 1986, the book states Angelou's personal journey to reconnect with her African roots. The title references an African-American spiritual track, which suggests that every person, regardless of their origins or situations, needs the ways to make their method the world.

Background and also Context
In 1962, Angelou, an African American female living in the United States, was struggling with her identity and also racial oppression. Because of this, she chose to move to Ghana, West Africa, to seek her African origins and also locate a sense of belonging. Her decision to leave the United States was partly sustained by her political activism, disillusionment with racism, and also the murders of popular African American leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

. Arrival in Africa
Upon her arrival in Ghana, Angelou was filled with excitement as well as hope, encouraged that she would ultimately locate her true identity and a sense of belonging. Nevertheless, she promptly found that life in Africa was not what she had actually prepared for. The cultural, political, and social variations between African Americans and native Africans were more pronounced than she had actually pictured. This realization made her inquiry her assumptions regarding what it implied to be an African and forced her to face her American upbringing.

Experiences with Other African Americans
During her time in Ghana, Angelou met with various other African Americans who had actually likewise pertained to Africa trying to find their roots and also identification. The experiences with these people revealed the variety in their reasons for existing. Some, like her, sought a means to leave American racism, while others were interested in the economic or political possibilities in the newly independent African countries. These meetings enabled her to recognize that her experience as well as trip were not unique, and that she was part of a larger team of individuals looking for a link to their genealogical roots.

Difficulties of the Expat Life
Angelou's trip was filled with challenges as she tried to adapt to the Ghanaian way of life. Language barriers, various customs, and also the clash between modernity as well as practice made her time in Africa both enlightening as well as frustrating. She struggled to discover work, relate to the neighborhood individuals, and understand the intricacies of Ghana's socio-political landscape. At the same time, she started to acknowledge that her choice to find to Africa was perhaps more of a romanticized retreat from her fact in the United States than a desire to genuinely get in touch with her roots.

Return to the United States
Regardless of the difficulties as well as dissatisfactions she encountered in Ghana, Angelou remained there for three years. She at some point made the decision to return to the United States, recognizing that her experience in Africa had actually made her even more familiar with her hybrid identification, including both her African heritage and her American training. While she might not have actually found the sense of belonging she had actually initially looked for, she acquired a much deeper understanding of herself at the same time, acknowledging that she can not completely different herself from her American side.

Conclusion
"All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes" is a complex, introspective, and also critical assessment of Maya Angelou's look for identification and approval. Her journey to Ghana serves as an exploration of the relationship in between African Americans and their African origins, highlighting the similarities and also distinctions that exist in between these 2 globes. Guide additionally shares the global theme of locating one's area worldwide, recommending that a true feeling of belonging as well as identification is frequently not located in a physical area, but rather within oneself.