“CORE was committed to nonviolence, but I was not.” — June Jordan

We do not deride the fears of prospering white America. A nation of violence and private property has every reason to dread the violated and the deprived.

I think I have come to a place where I'm able to feel more comfortable about being honest.

I wrote those poems for myself, as a way of being a soldier here in this country. I didn't know the poems would travel. I didn't go to Lebanon until two years ago, but people told me that many Arabs had memorized these poems and translated them into Arabic.

Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.