Young Man, Young Man, Your Arm's Too

It’s No Disgrace To Be Black, But It’s Often Very Inconvenient.

At A Very Early Age I Began To Thump On The Piano Alone, And It Was Not Long Before I Was Able To Pick Out A Few Tunes? I Also Learned The Names Of The Notes In Both Clefs, But I Preferred Not Be Hampered By Notes.

I Do Not See How A People That Can Find In Its Conscience Any Excuse Whatever For Slowly Burning To Death A Human Being, Or For Tolerating Such An Act, Can Be Entrusted With The Salvation Of A Race.

The Battle Was First Waged Over The Right Of The Negro To Be Classed As A Human Being With A Soul; Later, As To Whether He Had Sufficient Intellect To Master Even The Rudiments Of Learning; And Today It Is Being Fought Out Over His Social Recognition.

This Country Can Have No More Democracy Than It Accords And Guarantees To The Humblest And Weakest Citizen.