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Quote by Kwame Dawes

“When people open up and share their stories, you have a responsibility to tell these truths truthfully and with the same quest for grace and beauty that you see in them.”

Quote by Kwame Dawes

Author

Kwame Dawes is a renowned poet, born on July 28, 1962. His poetry is deeply influenced by Caribbean and African cultures, known for its unique style and profound themes. more

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“I am most interested in people. I try to capture their complexity and contradiction and beauty. It does not matter where they are from.”

People Trying Doe Matter Complexity Contradiction Capture

Author:Kwame Dawes

“I think that the kinds of stereotypes that people have about Haitians or about HIV sufferers exist because we don't realize that these are our brothers, our sisters, our aunts and uncles, our neighbors. They are us. And I don't mean that in some metaphorical sense. They are literally us.”

People Thinking Kind Mean Realizing Brother Neighbor Uncles Stereotype Aunt Hiv Metaphorical Sufferers Aunts And Uncles

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“HIV is no respecter of persons. Any of us could find ourselves with the disease, and then what? We tend to stigmatize as a way to deceive ourselves about our invincibility. But it is a delusion.”

Way Persons Disease Delusion Deceiving Hiv Invincibility

Author:Kwame Dawes

“Maybe that is the power of poetry. It somehow transcends news cycles, and becomes a part of our collective imagination. That is the beauty of the art form I like to play with.”

Art Play Form Imagination News Collectives Cycles

Author:Kwame Dawes

“I am a black person. I come out of an experience of exile and migration. I have always felt myself to be at once at home and away from home at the same time. It is inevitable that my perspective will be international.”

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Author:Kwame Dawes

“I believe that many lives around us now can reflect this strange pattern of migration and movement. The question is: are we aware of it, and do we embrace it as a kind of birthright? I do. And yet, I feel deeply connected to at least two homespaces - Jamaica and Ghana, and more recently, South Carolina.”

Feels Believe Kind Two I Believe Movement Strange Embrace South Patterns Connected Carolina Migration Birthright South Carolina Jamaica Ghana

Author:Kwame Dawes

“I have dear friends in South Carolina, folks who made my life there wonderful and meaningful. Two of my children were born there. South Carolina's governor awarded me the highest award for the arts in the state. I was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. I have lived and worked among the folks in Sumter, South Carolina, for so many years. South Carolina has been home, and to be honest, it was easier for me to define myself as a South Carolinian than even as an American.”

“The rich and complex history of South Carolina is the history of the African diaspora, and in many ways, I felt acutely the sense of this collective memory of migration, suffering and transformation while living in South Carolina.”

Way Suffering Felt Memories Rich Transformation South Complexes Collectives Carolina Migration South Carolina Diaspora Collective Memory

Author:Kwame Dawes

“One of the blessings and curses of my life is that I carry so many projects at the same time.”

Life Is Blessing Projects Curse Blessings And Curses

Author:Kwame Dawes

“The aesthetic, as I understand it, is really about the way in which we understand beauty and speak and think about beauty.”

Thinking Way Speak Aesthetic

Author:Kwame Dawes