“The new paternalists really think, it seems, that their utterances of the oldest racial cliches are, somehow, a demonstration of their liberation from the hanky-panky of liberalism and God knows what else”

“The play entertains the forbidden nightmare of the liberal: what, dear Lord, if the reactionary is correct, and people are horrible. Yet, with the same breath, it is revolutionary”

The design virtuoso, who died last week at age 91, brought the Voice's editorial look up to speed

“What ‘The Godfather’ is trying to peddle us is that turning to crime was not a choice but a necessary absorption in order to get along in a hostile country. Thus it is an ode to impotence and a grave insult to the Italians”

At the end of 'Mystery Train' by Greil Marcus, we appreciate that we have only begun to hear what the most popular music of our time is telling us.

“The rebels arrived, in an uneasy coalition of hip, black, and leftist militants. They wanted to make Columbia more like home. So they ransacked files, shoved furniture around, plastered walls with paint and placards”

Five specific, systemic, attainable reme­dies to the epidemic of police abuse

“Basquiat has absorbed every trick in contemporary painting's book at an astoundingly early age. He's so precocious he's practically old before his time”

“What I missed immediately was the figure of Jean him­self, one of the most beautiful young men — with one of the most original minds — I have ever met”

“Once gay power was a joyous cry in this town. Then the thrust toward radicalism died. The stuffed-shirt gay politico appeared. Lethargy set in”