at a certain moment in social proceedings, I am on FIRE to leave: I have a leaving-FIT.

Nothing could stop Mississippi.

Life for my child is simple, and is good.

When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, you're telling them that they're less than somebody else.

I like the concentration, the crush; I like working with language, as others like working with clay, or notes.

Words can do wonderful things. They pound, purr. They can urge, they can wheedle, whip, whine. They can sing, sass, singe. They can churn, check, channelize. They can be a "Hup two three four." They can forge a fiery army of a hundred languid men.

When white and black meet today, sometimes there is a ready understanding that there has been an encounter between two human beings. But often there is only, or chiefly, an awareness that Two Colors are in the room.