As yet, the Negroes themselves do not fully appreciate these old slave songs.

...evil is a force and, like the physical and chemical forces, we cannot annihilate it; we may only change its form. We light upon one evil and hit it with all the might of our civilization, but only succeed in scattering it into a dozen of other forms

My mother was kept very busy with her sewing; sometimes she would have another woman helping her.

It is strange how in some things honest people can be dishonest without the slightest compunction.

The colored people of this country know and understand the white people better than the white people know and understand them.

Lift every voice and sing Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies; Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Any musical person who has never heard a Negro congregation under the spell of religious fervor sing these old songs has missed one of the most thrilling emotions which the human heart may experience.