My people couldn't have survived slavery without having hope that it would get better. And there's some songs from the 19th and 18th century that say [sings], "By and by, by and by, I will lay down, this heavy load."… — Maya Angelou Copy Share Image
“The six to eight black men were characterized as personal slaves until the mid-1950s, when the political climate changed and it was decided that instead of being slaves they were just good friends.” — David Sedaris Copy Share Image
![“My people couldn't have survived slavery without having hope that it would get better. And there's some songs from the 19th and 18th century that say [sings], "By and by, by and by, I will lay down, this heavy load." And I mean, so many songs that spoke of hope and understand it better by and by…” quote by Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/887/maya-angelou-104_18th-century_my-people-couldn-t-have-survived-slavery_2520308.jpg)
