Bone Black

“We are so confused by this thing we call Race.”

“We do not understand money. We do not know that we are all poor.”

“Tell me that I am lucky to be lighter skinned, not black black, not dark brown, lucky to have hair that is almost straight, otherwise I might not be in the wedding at all.”

“A bright red wagon they shared possession of it but had different roles in relationship to it. She was to ride in it because she was a girl and he was to pull it because he was a boy.”

“Mama tells us that it is fine to love our friends but they are not family. Family is more important than friends.”

“She has learned to fear white folks without understanding what it is she fears.”

“She could hear him telling mama that the girl had too much spirit, that she had to learn to mind, that that spirit had to be broken.”

“She was to ride in the red wagon and he was to pull it.”

“She wants to love and control at the same time.”

"A boy coming into awareness of his sexuality is on his way to manhood--it is an important moment . . . they--the girls--have no such moments".

"She is shocked to find that racial barriers exist in her house"

“We can tell that our mama is not like other mothers. We can see that she is working hard to give us more than food shelter, and clothes to wear, that she wants to give us a taste of the delicious, a vision of beauty, a bit of ecstasy.”

"At last I am not Alone"

“I sense there is something deeper, something more to this life that the everyday.”

“Lies are like bombs, they explode into the air shattering everything in sight, bits and pieces of our lives. I want to tell the truth, yet they never accept it. When we lie to them, they punish us.”

“The books are a new world. I am even less alone.”

“She is shocked to find that racial barriers exist in her house, disappointed, ashamed.”

“Secretly she loves the color black. It is the color of night and hidden passion.”

“When they talk about same-sex love they use the word funny. Mostly men we know are funny. They are good men, kind me, respected men in the community.”

“When grownups talk about women who are funny, they are not accepting.”

“They are annoyed that I am so ignorant when it comes to matters of the body. Yet they have always made us ashamed of the body.”

“There is much to celebrate about being old. I was to be old as soon as possible for I see the way the old ones live—free.”

“He tells me that the young woman standing on the cliff, alone and afraid to live, is only suspended in a moment of hesitation, that she will overcome her fear and leap into life—that she will bring with her the treasures that are her being: the beauty, the courage, the wisdom.”

“She cannot wait to be a woman.”

“This is my home. This dark, bone black inner cave where I am making a world for myself.”