O My Body, Make Of Me Always

I Ascribe A Basic Importance To The Phenomenon Of Language. To Speak Means To Be In A Position To Use A Certain Syntax, To Grasp The Morphology Of This Or That Language, But It Means Above All To Assume A Culture, To Support The Weight Of A Civilization.

Introducing Someone As A "negro Poet With A University Degree" Or Again, Quite Simply, The Expression, "a Great Black Poet." These Ready-made Phrases, Which Seem In A Common-sense Way To Fill A Need-or Have A Hidden Subtlety, A Permanent Rub.

For Europe, For Ourselves And For Humanity, Comrades, We Must Turn Over A New Leaf, We Must Work Out New Concepts, And Try To Set Afoot A New Man.

Violence Is A Cleansing Force. It Frees The Native From His Inferiority Complex And From His Despair And Inaction; It Makes Him Fearless And Restores His Self-respect

[educated Blacks] Society Refuses To Consider Them Genuine Negroes. The Negro Is A Savage, Whereas The Student Is Civilized. "you're Us," And If Anyone Thinks You Are A Negro He Is Mistaken, Because You Merely Look Like One.