I was chastised for writing several obituaries for Malcolm X, exploring different aspects of his writing. One teacher in particular told me, didn't I think I was beating a dead horse? and dismissively threw my paper on my desk. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share Image
My characters don't talk necessarily in a normal American way of talking. They talk a little different. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
It still amazes and fascinates me that women of color have kept my work alive for these many generations. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
I write for young girls of color, for girls who don't even exist yet, so that there is something there for them when they… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
My family moved around a lot, so I don't have any friends that I had all my life, but I did have annual trips… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
i usedta live in the world really be in the world free & sweet talkin good mornin & thank-you & nice day uh huh… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
The slaves who were ourselves had known terror intimately, confused sunrise with pain, & accepted indifference as kindness. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
White people use their literature to maintain culture. That's why you find references to Milton and Spencer and Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky in contemporary novels. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
Art gives us the opportunity to have clarity as well as hope that we might be able to survive a situation, or hope that… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
I think art is a healing force, and if we give in to the joy that can be found in art, then we are… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
Being alive and being a woman is all I got, but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet. — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
When I die, I will no be guilty of having left a generation of girls behind thinking that anyone can tend to their emotional… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
I had - there were three strokes, and I lost my ability to read and write and speak, and it really put me by… — Ntozake Shange Copy Share
