I long for the time when all human history is taught as one history, because it really is.

Elimination of illiteracy is as serious an issue to our history as the abolition of slavery.

The poetry you read has been written for you, each of you - black, white, Hispanic, man, woman, gay, straight.

I do hope that young men and women will start to think for themselves and start to take responsibility for their own thoughts.

I sustain myself with the love of family.

If on Judgement Day I were summoned by St. Peter to give testimony to the used-to-be sheriff's act of kindness, I would be unable to say anything in his behalf. His confidence that my uncle and every other Black man who heard of the Klan's coming ride would scurry under their houses to hide in chicken droppings was too humiliating to hear. Without waiting for Momma's thanks, he rode out of the yard, sure that things were as they should be and that he was a gentle squire, saving those deserving serfs from the laws of the land, which he condoned.

Remember this: When you cross my doorstep, you have already been raised. With what you have learned...you know the difference between right and wrong. Do right. Don't anybody raise you from the way you have been raised. Know you will have to make adaptations, in love, in relationships, in friends, in society, in work, but don't let anybody change your mind.