About Encyclopedia

Today's featured article I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of writer and activist Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to racism. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years. However, the book's graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality have caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries. (more...) Recently featured: Hare coursing – Meningitis – Museum of Bad Art Archive – By email – More featured articles... Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that the 1788 Old Brick Church (pictured) in Fairfield County, South Carolina, is called the “mother church” or “birthplace” of the ARP Church in South Carolina? ... that the Blue Serpent Clock Egg is the first Tsar Imperial Fabergé egg to feature a working clock? ... that the first printing press in the Americas started operations in 1539 in a house in Mexico City that is still standing? ... that in 1980, planktologist Grethe Rytter Hasle was the only female representative of natural sciences in the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters? ... that Ramsey's Draft Wilderness, a designated wilderness area in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests of Virginia, was established in 1984? ... that as much as a third of Niger's rural population travels as temporary labor during the seasonal migration in Niger between January and April, to avoid the Sahel dry season? ... that Edwards Dam in Maine was the first United States hydroelectric dam to be removed against the dam owner's wishes? ... that the Tang Dynasty chancellor/general Pei Du swore to Emperor Xianzong that he would not return to the capital Chang'an unless the warlord Wu Yuanji was destroyed? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news Fourteen people are killed and 26 others are severely wounded during a shooting incident in Binghamton, New York. Albania and Croatia join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). G-20 leaders meet at a summit at the ExCeL Centre, London. Raúl Alfonsín (pictured), Argentina's first President to be democratically elected after the "Dirty War" military dictatorship, dies at the age of 82. The completion of construction of the National Ignition Facility, a laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, is announced. The Libyan government announces that a migrant boat has capsized in the Mediterranean Sea causing the presumed deaths of around 230 people. The Pakistan Rangers and Elite Police retake a police academy in Lahore which had been seized by gunmen. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events... On this day... April 4: Children's Day in Taiwan and Hong Kong 1721 – Robert Walpole took office as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, becoming what would later be recognised as the first British Prime Minister. 1859 – Bryant's Minstrels premiered the popular American song "Dixie" in New York City as part of their blackface minstrel show. 1949 – Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. 1968 – American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (pictured) was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. 1969 – Surgeons Denton Cooley and Domingo Liotta implanted the first total artificial heart. 1975 – Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. More events: April 3 – April 4 – April 5 Archive – By email – More anniversaries... It is now April 4, 2009 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture
Experimental continuous tracked landing gear on a Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The gear was intended to spread out the weight of the B-36 to allow it to land on softer runways, but was abandoned in favor of the conventional four-wheeled bogie. Photo credit: United States Air Force Recently featured: Dalí Atomicus – Common Grass Blue – Robida's 20th century house Archive – More featured pictures...