“These transcontinental urban griots echo the despair, pain, and anger of the South Bronx and Harlem (the world's two major rap centers), which a lot of the cool-jerk white liberals and b.s. black bourgeoisie don't want to hear.”
“Incidents of violence against black people in the United States have reached epidemic proportions. When the police department — which is supposed to stop these crimes — is in fact implicated in them, genocide as official policy against black Americans cannot be far behind”
“For both black and white, there is a pride in the fact that Atlanta has long been an oasis of relative political enlightenment surrounded by the redneck mandates of the rest of the state”
“As far as I'm concerned, there are only two valid reasons to venture downtown. One of them is the second-hand bookstores, undeniably the best in the city. The other is the obligatory trek down to The Village Voice to hand in one's copy under the duress of a deadline”
“Like other forms of ghetto street culture — graffiti, verbal dueling, rapping — breaking is a public arena for the flamboyant triumph of virility, wit, and skill. In short, of style.”
“The bodega is a microcosm of a world left behind, a world where people live day-to-day and social customs attest to strong family ties and Caribbean machismo.”
