“Black life is ambiguous, and a kaleidoscope of meanings, rich, multi-sided . . . we have frozen our vision in figures that caricature, at best the complexity of our lives and leave the real artistic chore of interpretation unfinished.” RealLife IsBlackVisionRichOur LivesFiguresArtisticComplexityInterpretationFrozenUnfinishedAmbiguousChoresCaricaturesKaleidoscopeBlack Lives Author:Charles Bartlett Johnson
“When our life is a continuous trial, the moments of respite seem only to substitute the heaviness of dread for the heaviness of actual suffering; the curtain of cloud seems parted an instant only that we may measure all its horror as it hangs low, black, and imminent, in contrast with the transient brightness; the waterdrops that visit the parched lips in the desert bear with them only the keen imagination of thirst.” LifeMayMomentsSeemsLife IsSufferingBlackImaginationOur LivesBearsHorrorLowsLipsCloudsTrialsDesertInstantSubstitutesContrastDreadThirstCurtainsBrightnessTransientHeavinessRespite Book:Silas Marner and Scenes of Clerical Life Source: Silas Marner and Scenes of Clerical Life
“Any Black person in amerika [sic], if they are being honest with themselves, have got to come to the conclusion that they don't know what it feels like to be free. We aren't free politically, economically, or socially. We have very little power over what happens in our lives. In fact, a Black person isn't free to walk down the street. Walk down the wrong street, in the wrong neighborhood at night, and you know what happens.” IfsKnowsFeelsLittlesPersonsFactsHappensNightBlackWalksOur LivesStreetsHonestConclusionBeing HonestNeighborhoodBlack Person Author:Assata Shakur
“The blues records of each decade explain something about the philosophical basis of our lives as black people. ... Blues is a basis of historical continuity for black people. It is a ritualized way of talking about ourselves and passing it on.” PeopleWayBlackTalkingMusicRecordsOur LivesBasesPhilosophicalHistoricalDecadesPassingPassingsBlack PeopleContinuityWay Of TalkingPassing It Author:Sherley Anne Williams
“Life is just like a book. Only after you've read it do you know how it ends. It is when we are at the end of life that we know how our life ran. Mine, until now, has been black. As black as my skin. Black as the garbage dump where I live.” KnowsLifeHas BeensBookEndsLife IsBlackKnow HowOur LivesMinesSkinsLive LifeRanDo You KnowGarbageDumpEnd Of Life Book:Beyond All Pity Source: Beyond All Pity
“We Negro writers, just by being black, have been on the blacklist all our lives. Censorship for us begins at the color line.” Has BeensPoetryLiteratureBlackLinesOur LivesColorRacismCensorship Book:Essays on art, race, politics, and world affairs Source: Essays on art, race, politics, and world affairs