"Some of my earliest attempts at verse-making were creating words in my own mind to the rhythms of the blues." Chapter 1, p. 20

"Homesick blues is

A terrible thing to have.

To keep from cryin'

I opens ma mouth an' laughs." Chapter 3, p. 39

"If we must die- let it not be like hogs,

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot...

Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!" Chapter 6, p. 66

"My soul has grown deep like rivers." Chapter 6, p. 71

"I am a Negro:

Black as the night is black,

Black like the depths of Africa." Chapter 7, p. 78

"Do not let the lionizers stampede you. Hide and write and study and think..." Chapter 10, p. 103

"It is the duty of the younger Negro artist...to change through the force of his art that old whispering 'I want to be white."' Chapter 12, p...