A piece of cloth that is called "linen" has more validity than calling you and me "black" or "negro." "Cotton" has more validity as cotton than yours and my being "black."

People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman.

One doesn't have to pursue unhappiness. It comes to you. You come into the world screaming. You cry when you're born because your lungs expand. You breathe. I think that's really kind of significant. You come into the world crying, and it's a sign that you're alive.

Love and hatred don't take turns; they exist side by side at the same time. And one's duty, one's obligation every day, is to choose to follow the nobler one.

It is true that our skin is sort of more or less the same shade. But is it true that our skin color makes us a distinctive race? No.

I suppose you could say I love outlaw American culture.

I was given a dictionary when I was seven, and I read it because I had nothing else to read. I read it the way you read a book.