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Quote by James Weldon Johnson

Work

The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man

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Author

James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson was an American author, poet, musician, and civil rights activist. He is known for his poetry, novels, and musical compositions, and was a significant figure in the American civil rights movement. more

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“I held Angie Luna in that room for hours, and I remember the different times we made love like epochs in a civilization, each movement and every touch, apex upon abyss. In the luxury of our bed, we tried every position and every angle. I explored the curves on her body and delighted in seeing the freedom of her ecstasy. Her desperate whispers and pleas. I told her I loved her, and she said she loved me too. We lay in bed with our limbs entangled, in a pacific silence that reminded me of existing on a beach just for the sake of such an existence. I couldn't imagine the world ever becoming better, and for some strange reason the thought slipped into my head that I had suddenly grown to be an old man because I could only hope to repeat, but never improve on, a night like this. I finally took her home sometime when the interstate was empty, and the bridges seemed to lead to nowhere, for they were desolate too.”

“I believe we have reached a point where those of us who belong to this culture of la frontera in Ysleta and El Paso are not content to sit back and watch others tell us who we are. We know who we are, and we ourselves can tell others about what we love and what we fear and what we hate and what can save us. I believe our community has developed that confidence to step forward and start taking responsibility for the many images that are projected in the name of Ysleta and El Paso.”

“Turi remembers this strange feeling repeated throughout his life: who he thinks he is in his mind is sometimes not who others see or imagine he can be. This gap never seems to go away. Sometimes this secret self is comforting, for its privacy. Sometimes it is amusing, when he witnesses what crazy assumptions others have of him. Too often this gap is dispiriting, a prison inside of him without any means of escape.”