7 X 7 + Love = An

We Younger Negro Artists Who Create Now Intend To Express Our Individual Dark-skinned Selves Without Fear Or Shame. If White People Are Pleased, We Are Glad. If They Are Not, It Doesn't Matter. We Know We Are Beautiful. And Ugly Too. The Tom-tom Cries And The Tom-tom Laughs. If Colored People Are Pleased, We Are Glad. If They Are Not, It Doesn't Matter Either. We Build Our Temples For Tomorrow, Strong As We Know How, And We Stand On Top Of The Mountain, Free Within Ourselves.

Let The Rain Kiss You. Let The Rain Beat Upon Your Head With Silver Liquid Drops. Let The Rain Sing You A Lullaby.

My Soul Has Grown Deep Like The Rivers.

I Did Not Believe Political Directives Could Be Successfully Applied To Creative Writing . . . Not To Poetry Or Fiction, Which To Be Valid Had To Express As Truthfully As Possible The Individual Emotions And Reactions Of The Writer.

If The Government Can Set Aside Some Spot For A Elk To Be A Elk Without Being Bothered, Or A Buffalo To Be A Buffalo Without Being Shot Down, There Ought To Be Some Place Where A Negro Can Be A Negro Without Being Jim Crowed.