No man can give me any word but Wait.

It frightens me to realize that, if I had died before the age of fifty, I would have died a 'Negro' fraction.

I know that the Black emphasis must be not against white but FOR Black.

With melted opals for my milk, Pearl-leaf for my cracker.

We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.

A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates would be inspired writers.

We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.