All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes: Summary

In Maya Angelou’s All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, she recounts a time in her life in which she lived in Africa. She traveled to Africa to send her son to the University of Ghana. However, he was injured in a car accident so Maya Angelou was not able to leave him. She became extremely different than she was usually. She was withdrawn and depressed. With the help from friends she had made during her time there, she was able to work through it. She met many black Americans and many people who were native of Africa and surrounding areas. They taught her lessons. Some taught her how to feel again, some taught her that she is better off on her own. Her son was also a big part of her life. He starts off in the book as a young college freshman. Throughout, he matures into a man. Angelou has to deal with him growing up and becoming more independent. She does this despite her maternal instincts to nurture, even when he becomes involved with a well-established, older woman. She learns to accept it and sets him free. She stars in a play called “The Blacks” that travels to Germany. She makes and meets many friends. However, the biggest part in this memoir is how she discusses how she never really felt like she had a home in Ghana.