This research is descriptive qualitative research using semiotics approach to explore five selected poems by Maya Angelou: “Momma Welfare Roll”, “Phenomenal Woman”, “Woman Work”, “Still I Rise”, and “They Ask Why”. Angelou’s works are mostly talking about economic, racial, and sexual oppression, yet she never failed to present the dignity of black women as well. The purpose of this research is to explore how Angelou portrays the oppression against African-American women through her poems. The analyses of the poems were conducted based on the semiotics approach proposed by Michael Riffaterre (1978). Riffaterre’s semiotics of poetry refers to a theoretical framework that explores how poetry generates meaning through the interplay of linguistic signs and reader interpretation. From the analysis of the five poems, it is found that in her poems Angelou presents African-American women facing frequent unjust convictions and often being belittled due to not fitting the American standard of beauty.
