If Someone Comes To You And Asks

A Good Poet Feels What His Community Feels. Like If You Stub Your Toe, The Rest Of Your Body Hurts.

You See Martin Luther King Is Dead And Huey Newton Is Not. And Malcolm X Is Dead And Bobby Seale Is Not. And Vernon Jordan Was Shot. The Thing That Revolutionaries, Or Even People Who Want To Claim They're Revolutionaries, Often Forget Is That It Doesn't Make No Difference What Kind Of Wardrobe You Wear, And If You Speak Up About Black People Doing Better You Just Risked Your Life.

I Don't Mind Being Criticized. I Enjoy Being Criticized Personally, Not By Rumor.

I Try Not To Take People Who Haven't Really Thought Out What They're Doing Too Seriously. I Try Not To Let Them Get In The Way Of What I Feel I Need To Do.

I Don't Suspect That In Many Instances The Artists Who Are Dedicated In That Fashion To The Progress Of That Community Are As Well Protected By The Community As Might Be Necessary.