The black population now consists of two distinct classes-the middle class and the poor.

We African Americans have now spent the major part of the 20th Century battling racism

The last state to admit a black student to the college level was South Carolina

In high school, I won a prize for an essay on tuberculosis. When I got through writing the essay, I was sure I had the disease.

In my view, I did not get to the federal bench because I was a woman

Lack of encouragement never deterred me. I was the kind of person who would not be put down.

Living at the YMCA in Harlem dramatically broadened my view of the world.