#AmericanWriters
You and your whole race. Look down upon the town in which y… And be ashamed. Look down upon white folks And upon yourselves
In the Quarter of the Negroes Where the doors are doors of paper Dust of dingy atoms Blows a scratchy sound. Amorphous jack—o’—Lanterns caper
When a man starts out with nothing… When a man starts out with his han… Empty, but clean, When a man starts to build a world… He starts first with himself
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then!
I am God— Without one friend, Alone in my purity World without end. Below me young lovers
I will take you heart. I will take your soul out of your… As though I were God. I will not be satisfied With the touch of your hand
Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear. I have as much right
I catch the pattern Of your silence Before you speak I do not need To hear a word.
Tell all my mourners To mourn in red — Cause there ain’t no sense In my bein’ dead.
You sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out—stretched, mock—welcome, Christian hands.
Night funeral In Harlem: Where did they get Them two fine cars? Insurance man, he did not pay—
It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me, Bright like a sun—
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the w… My soul has grown deep like the ri… I bathed in the Euphrates when da… I built my hut near the Congo and…
My old man’s a white old man And my old mother’s black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mot…