As A Poet And Writer, I Deeply

There Is A Man Who Exists As One Of The Most Popular Objects Of Leadership, Legislation, And Quasi-literature In The History Of All Men. . . . This Man, That Object Of Attention, Attack, And Vast Activity, Cannot Make Himself Be Heard, Let Alone Understood. He Has Never Been Listened To. . . . That Man Is Black And Alive In White America Where The Media Of Communication Do Not Allow The Delivery Of His Own Voice, His Own Desires, His Own Rage.

The Music Of Language Became Extremely Important To Me, And Obvious To Me. By The Time I Was Seven I Was Writing Myself. I Was A Poet

The Neglected Legacy Of The Sixties Is Just This: Unabashed Moral Certitude, And The Purity -- The Incredibly Outgoing Energy -- Of Righteous Rage.

Sometimes We Become So Sophisticated We Have To Read The New York Times In Order To Figure Out Whether It's A Hot Or A Rainy Day.

Language Is Political. That's Why You And Me, My Brother And Sister, That's Why We Supposed To Choke Our Natural Self Into The Weird, Lying, Barbarous, Unreal, White Speech And Writing Habits That The Schools Lay Down Like Holy Law.