'In the first decade of the twentiety century, it was not a good time to be
born black, or woman, in America.' So begins this stunning portrait of
Vivian Baxter Johnson: the first black woman officer in the Merchant
Marines, purveyor of a gambling business and rooming house, and mother to
one of our most cherished literary treasures. Anyone who's read the
classic, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, knows Maya Angelou was raised by
her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou
details what brought her mother to send her away and unearths the well of
emotions Angelou experienced long afterward as a result. While Angelou's
six autobiographies tell of her out in the world, influencing and learning
from statesmen and cultural icons, Mom &