To Tell The Truth Is To Become

What's Important About Poetry In The Context Of Leadership Is That Most Of The Time, Power Has To Do With Dominance. But Poetry Is Never About Dominance. Poetry Is Powerful But It Cannot Even Aspire To Dominate Anyone. It Means Making A Connection. That's What It Means.

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.

As A Poet And Writer, I Deeply Love And I Deeply Hate Words. I Love The Infinite Evidence And Change And Requirements And Possibilities Of Language; Every Human Use Of Words That Is Joyful, Or Honest Or New, Because Experience Is New... But As A Black Poet And Writer, I Hate Words That Cancel My Name And My History And The Freedom Of My Future: I Hate The Words That Condemn And Refuse The Language Of My People In America.

Revolution Always Unfolds Inside An Atmosphere Of Rising Expectations.

My Father Was Both The Person Who Gave Me Reason To Learn How To Fight And The One Who Taught Me The Basics Of Fighting. He Would Tell Me That If It Was A Big Fight, It Would Probably Be Uneven, It Wouldn't Be Fair