I Am Working Never To Be Late

There Is A Man Who Exists As One Of The Most Popular Objects Of Leadership, Legislation, And Quasi-literature In The History Of All Men. . . . This Man, That Object Of Attention, Attack, And Vast Activity, Cannot Make Himself Be Heard, Let Alone Understood. He Has Never Been Listened To. . . . That Man Is Black And Alive In White America Where The Media Of Communication Do Not Allow The Delivery Of His Own Voice, His Own Desires, His Own Rage.

And If I If I Ever Let Love Go Because The Hatred And The Whisperings Become A Phantom Dictate I O- Bey In Lieu Of Impulse And Realities (the Blossoming Flamingos Of My Wild Mimosa Trees) Then Let Love Freeze Me Out. (from I Must Become A Menace To My Enemies)

I Am Working Never To Be Late Again.

In America, You Can Segregate The People, But The Problems Will Travel. From Slavery To Equal Rights, From State Suppression Of Dissent To Crime, Drugs And Unemployment, I Can't Think Of A Supposedly Black Issue That Hasn't Wasted The Original Black Target Group And Then Spread Like Measles To Outlying White Experience.

We Need Everybody And All That We Are. We Need To Know And Make Known The Complete, Constantly Unfolding, Complicated Heritage That Is Our Black Experience. We Should Absolutely Resist The Superstar, One At A Time Mentality That Threatens The Varied And Resilient, Flexible Wealth Of Our Black Future.