There Is No Greater Agony Than Bearing An Untold Story Inside You

It is brightly said by Abraham Lincoln” those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

One can’t feel the pain of enslavement until he has tasted the joy of freedom. Every being on this planet has the right to freedom. They have the right to enjoy freedom but not at the risk of someone else’s freedom. One should be allowed to enjoy his share of freedom, no one has the right to torture or harass him. Every being has the right to plan, hope and dream which cannot be taken away. Today we are standing here, heading different professions because earlier we were given the right to dream and plan about our future, to hope for a better future.

From time immemorable, white colour has been considered superior as against anything shaded and subjected to harassment. The Black Americans were enslaved. Their right to freedom was taken away. They could not hope, dream or even plan. They could not envision anything.

Maya Angelou in her decorated poem ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, illustrates the caged bird to the Black Americans. It is a symbol of all Afro-Americans and their fight for freedom. It is a signature line to the struggles of being a black author whose words are not heard and who longs for freedom. It expresses the harrowing weight of hiding one’s innermost thoughts and experiences from the rest of the world.

Our innermost voice is the most powerful voice, and if given a chance to speak, it could change the world. The Black Americans were restricted in ghettos of their own. Most of their potential remained unfulfilled, unexplored as they never had a chance to showcase the same. ‘The biggest burden is an unfulfilled potential.’ As their voices were brutally silenced and like the caged bird their dreams and aspirations never came to fruition. Success and defeat are two sides of the same coin and they both portray life in all its reality. Every person deserves same respect, attention and freedom.

A free bird who illustrates the white Americans, leaps on the back of the wind and glides along the current of the wind with the common belief that people with white skin are superior. It enjoys flying unrestrictedly, beauty of the sunset and limitless freedom as all the circumstances are in favor of it.

On the other hand, the encaged bird who is a signature line of the Black Americans and enslavement lives in a narrow, confined and restricted cage. He has no true idea of the limitless possibilities and freedom of the free bird. In the way this bird was encaged with his wings clipped and feet tied, the Black Americans were also enslaved with their freedom robbed. Singing is the only way by which the caged bird can give expression to his anger. So, he opens his throat to sing of freedom and opportunities denied while longing for them in a fearful thrill. He sings from the Black American’s side that “what would the world be like if the Black Americans had the same rights as the whites.” The strains of his tuneful song are carried to the distant hill to motivate people to give him freedom. It sets as an example that people will struggle against all odds, to express themselves vocally which will be heard in distant shores, whose impact will be too powerful to ignore.

The free bird after enjoying the sunset and flying in the breeze immediately starts thinking of another breeze, like the White Americans think of new ways to oppress the Black. Like the White Americans it is able to experience the trade winds, sighing gently through the trees. Unlike the caged bird his unshattered freedom allows him to enjoy fat worms waiting for him at a beautiful lawn at dawn. The White man is completely oblivious to the sufferings of the enslaved Black men. Unlike the encaged bird, this free bird asserts his claim on the sky, while the White man asserts his claim on all the resources and opportunities that nature offers.

An atmosphere of despondence and hopelessness surrounds the caged bird as it stands on the graves of its unfulfilled dreams, buried in his cage. With his dreams dead and his existence uncertain, he is not sure of his identity and becomes nothing else but a shadow of himself. Yet he opens his throat to sing loudly even in the worst condition because he lives a nightmare, and that’s the only thing that can liberate him and motivate him to not give up. The caged bird sets as an example and continues to sing its song of freedom that will give expression to his anger and thirst for freedom even in a hopeless and frustrating condition. This will motivate the Black Americans to continue to struggle against all odds and in the due course they will surely be liberated.

The free bird like the White Americans lives a dignified life with infinite possibilities of broadening its horizons, in contrast, the caged bird lives in fearful longing for freedom from total captivity like the Black Americans.