If whites bored me, it was because they bored themselves. They seemed to get little fun out of life and were desperately lonely.

There was one emotional outlet my people always had when they had the blues. That was singing.

We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.

Nothing can beat the smell of dew and flowers and the odor that comes out of the earth when the sun goes down.

What broke Mom's heart was realizing that her children knew nothing and cared nothing about the better side of life.

If I wanted pity, I got it because I'm illegitimate. And when I didn't want it I was mean and nasty.

I found that a couple of bottles of beer would give me a lift, but the third bottle would sober me up.