“But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave,” (p. 262).

“I guess i hummed the Blues too early, and spent too many midnights wailing to the rain,” (p.159)

“I want to be real,” (‘culture,’ p. 154).

“I mean, after the chains that get entangled in the grey of one’s matter, after the bars get stuck in the hearts of men and women, what’ is left?” (‘Leftovers— What Is Left,’ p. 146).

“Nobody in the world. Nobody in history has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them,” (p. 139).

“White people’s fear of Black people with guns will never cease to amaze me. Probably because they think about what they would do were they in our place. Especially the police, who have done so much dirt to Black people. When Black people seriously organize and take up arms to fight for our liberation, there will be a lot of white people who will drop dead from no other reason than their own guilt and fear,” (p. 65).

“They can see in your eyes a thousand nightmares that they have made come true,” (‘Rhinoceros Woman,’ p. 63)

“The schools we go to are reflections of the society that created them. Nobody is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will set you free,” (p. 181).

“My roots run deep. I have been nourished well,” (‘momma,’ p. 194).

“It crosses my mind: i want to win. I don’t want to rebel, i want to win,” (p.195).