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I believe black characters in fiction are still revolutionary, given our long history of erasure.

Black writers, of whatever quality, who step outside the pale of what black writers are supposed to write about, or who black writers are supposed to be, are condemned to silences in black literary circles that are as total and as destructive as any imposed by racism.

I think that black fiction authors have to work very hard to avoid being typed as seeking only a black audience.

And no book gives a deeper insight into the inner life of the Negro, his struggles and his aspirations, than, The Souls of Black Folk.

In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.

Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time.

Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude.

At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published. You had to be great. Now you can be good. Mediocre. And that's good.

I never had that thing about being black. If the whole world was like that, maybe there would be more harmony and love.

In fact, some reviewers have said that as they got into the story they forgot that the protagonist is a black woman. They were moved by the story - by the people as a whole - and not by the little things.