what is african american literature?
Black Like Me Amos Fortune, Free Man The Souls of Black Folk Race Matters Black Boy Notes of a Native Son Manchild in the Promised Land The Children The Fire Next Time No Name in the Street
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 In 2016 , a 1941 copy of the book will be displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture , when the museum opens . 

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 In 2016 , a 1941 copy of the book will be displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture , when the museum opens . 

contradiction
 According to scholar Mary Jane Lupton , Angelou 's autobiographies have been characterized as autobiographical fiction , but Lupton disagrees , stating that they conform to the genre 's standard structure : they are written by a single author , they are chronological , and they contain elements of character , technique , and theme . Angelou 's use of themes , especially that of racism , connects all seven autobiographies . One of her goals , beginning with Caged Bird , was to incorporate " organic unity " into them , and the events she described were episodic , crafted like a series of short stories , and were placed to emphasize the themes of her books . 

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 In the book , as in America today , the black people are rendered as either passive , simple and childlike , or animalistic and capable of unimaginable violence . They are described in the book at various points as " hideous in their savagery , wearing only the loin cloth , and with their kinky hair stuck full of sticks " , and as " wild , savage and ferocious ... like little red apes " . " 

entailment
 The themes encompassing African @-@ American writer Maya Angelou 's seven autobiographies include racism , identity , family , and travel . Angelou ( 1928 – 2014 ) is best known for her first autobiography , the critically acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ( 1969 ) . The rest of the books in her series are Gather Together in My Name ( 1974 ) , Singin ' and Swingin ' and Gettin ' Merry Like Christmas ( 1976 ) , The Heart of a Woman ( 1981 ) , All God 's Children Need Traveling Shoes ( 1986 ) , A Song Flung Up to Heaven ( 2002 ) , and Mom & Me & Mom ( 2013 ) . 
