As A Poet And Writer, I Deeply

As A Child I Was Taught That To Tell The Truth Was Often Painful. As An Adult I Have Learned That Not To Tell The Truth Is More Painful, And That The Fear Of Telling The Truth - Whatever The Truth May Be - That Fear Is The Most Painful Sensation Of A Moral Life.

Anytime You See White Men Suppose To Fight Each Other An You Not White, Well You Know You Got Trouble, Because They Blah-blah Loud About Democrat Or Republican An They Huffing An Puff About Democracy Someplace Else But Relentless, See, The Deal Come Down Evil On Somebody Don Have No Shirt An Tie, Somebody Don Live In No Whiteman House No Whiteman Country.

What's Important About Poetry In The Context Of Leadership Is That Most Of The Time, Power Has To Do With Dominance. But Poetry Is Never About Dominance. Poetry Is Powerful But It Cannot Even Aspire To Dominate Anyone. It Means Making A Connection. That's What It Means.

Let Me Just Say, At Once: I Am Not Now Nor Have I Ever Been A White Man. And, Leaving Aside The Joys Of Unearned Privilege, This Leaves Me Feeling Pretty Good.

To Tell The Truth Is To Become Beautiful, To Begin To Love Yourself, Value Yourself. And That's Political, In Its Most Profound Way.