 As she had begun to do in Caged Bird , and continued throughout her series , Angelou upheld the long tradition of African @-@ American autobiography . At the same time she made a deliberate attempt to challenge the usual structure of the autobiography by critiquing , changing , and expanding the genre . Most reviewers agreed that the book was made up of a series of vignettes . By the time Song was written in 2002 , sixteen years after her previous autobiography , Angelou had experienced great fame and recognition as an author and poet . She recited her poem On the Pulse of Morning at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993 , becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy 's in 1961 . She had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women . Angelou was , as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated , " without a doubt , ... America 's most visible black woman autobiographer " . She had also become , as reviewer Richard Long stated , " a major autobiographical voice of the time " . 
