I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an American television film based on the autobiography of the same name by Maya Angelou, first aired April 28, 1979, on CBS.

Also appearing were Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, and Madge Sinclair.

The movie traces Maya's life from when she and her brother move in with their grandmother to the trauma of being raped as a young girl by one of her mother's boyfriends and the several years of silence that came after the attack.

Angelou added a scene between Maya and Uncle Willie after the Joe Louis fight.

In the book, Henry Reed delivers the valedictory speech and leads the black audience in the Negro national anthem.