The American Negro has the great advantage of having
Never believed the collection of Myths to which
White Americans cling: that their ancestors were
Freedom-loving heroes—that they were born in
The greatest country the world has ever seen—
Or that they’re invincible in battle, wise in peace.²
She’s not afraid at Night
Because she’s the Color of it—³
But the Bourgeoisie is fearful of the
Negro Woman—and for good reason!⁴
Society has no right to bargain with the Negro
For the Freedom which inherently belongs to them—⁵
Africans bruise & break themselves against their Bars
In pursuit of Freedoms wider than their own:⁶
Simple Justice is the Right of every race.⁷
BLACK is an open umbrella—
We’re Black and Blacks forever,
We are Blacks, and we capitalize our name!⁸
We are the Dark Girl who crosses the wide sea,
Carrying our body in the Sea of the Free!⁹
Our favorite subject is a Brown
Hand clasping a Black one …¹⁰
¹ Countee Cullen, Yet Do I Marvel
² James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
³ Toni Morrison, Beloved
⁴ Claudia Jones, An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Women!
⁵ Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can’t Wait
⁶ C.L.R. James, A History of Negro Revolt
⁷ Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, To the Union Savers of Cleveland
⁸ Gwendolyn Brooks, I Am A Black
⁹ Langston Hughes, The Negro Mother
¹⁰ V.S. Naipaul, Miguel Street