The Unsung Power of Maya Angelou's Activism.

This article focuses on Maya Angelou's significant yet often overlooked role in the anti-rape movement. While widely celebrated as a poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, Angelou deliberately used her writing—most notably her memoir *I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings*—to give voice to survivors of sexual assault and to challenge the silence and stigma surrounding rape. Published in 1970 amid the rise of feminist "speak-outs" and consciousness-raising efforts, her memoir became a foundational text for the emerging anti-rape movement, which sought legal reforms and cultural change. Angelou's activism extended beyond literature, as she engaged with feminist and civil rights causes, and her work continues to offer empowerment and recognition to survivors of sexual violence.