The First Slave To Read And Write

The Historical Basis For The Gap Between The Black Middle Class And Underclass Shows That Ending Discrimination, By Itself, Would Not Eradicate Black Poverty And Dysfunction. We Also Need Intervention To Promulgate A Middle-class Ethic Of Success Among The Poor, While Expanding Opportunities For Economic Betterment.

Mama And I Would Go To A Funeral And She'd Stand Up To Read The Dead Person's Eulogy. She Made The Ignorant And Ugly Sound Like Scholars And Movie Stars, Turned The Mean And Evil Into Saints And Angels. She Knew What People Had Meant To Be In Their Hearts, Not What The World Had Forced Them To Become. She Knew The Ways In Which Working Too Hard For Paltry Wages Could Turn You Mean And Cold, Could Kill The Thing That Made You Laugh.

People Don't Realize What A Brilliant Politician Lincoln Was. Looking Back, We Want To Ascribe A Level Of Providence To His Every Decision But He Was A Cunning And Calculating Politician; From The Cultivation Of His Image As A Hayseed From Illinois, To His Ability To Keep This Country Together Under Dire Circumstances.

For Black America Needs A Politics Whose First Mission Isn't The Reinforcement Of The Idea Of Black America; And A Discourse Of Race That Isn't Centrally Concerned With Preserving The Idea Of Race And Racial Unanimity. We Need Something We Don't Yet Have: A Way Of Speaking About Black Poverty That Doesn't Falsify The Reality Of Black Advancement; A Way Of Speaking About Black Advancement That Doesn't Distort The Enduring Realities Of Black Poverty.

I Want To Be Remembered As Someone Who Tried To Bring The Story Of Our Ancestors To The Broadest Possible Audience. I Want To Be Remembered As A Man Who Loved His Race.