What happened after World War I was disgraceful. Most veterans, like my great-uncle, were squashed back into place. Congress couldn't pass an anti-lynching bill. The World War II generation, though, wasn't going to take it. Darryl Pinckney More Quotes by Darryl Pinckney More Quotes From Darryl Pinckney In her excellent, entirely readable Richard Wright, Hazel Rowley accomplishes what [previous biographer] Michel Fabre would have liked to do with once-guarded letters, aging witnesses, previously unidentified girlfriends. . . . Mostly, Rowley concentrates on telling Wright's very powerful story. Darryl Pinckney girlfriend powerful stories I think at the beginning of one's writing life, negative reviews are what one does to get attention and stake out your territory. It's also often a mistake. Darryl Pinckney mistake writing thinking There's a class divide in black America that doesn't seem to trouble black Americans so much, but whites use it and exploit it. The progress of a few is allowed to stand for the progress of everyone. We can't afford that kind of disaffection at the moment. Darryl Pinckney black class america Hillary certainly needs the black vote, and Democrats need it. She's not doing anything too soon; she's raising her money and not wanting any issues to come back and bite her later. The black vote will be crucial for Hillary and so will the women's vote. Darryl Pinckney democrat vote black Obama can't be everything to everyone. He changed. He did. I never thought I'd hear Obama say, "Let's go back to nuclear arms," but he did. In the meantime, the clear and present danger is the Republicans in the Senate. A lot of politics isn't heroic, it's as day-to-day as our lives themselves. We always want to make the Byronic choices, but Byron himself was not Byronic all the time either. Darryl Pinckney heroic republican choices I can see Obama trying to be the president who suggests solutions for everyone who has experienced economic hardship. Darryl Pinckney hardship president trying People from Europe and people from Africa encountered one another long before the invention of "Europe" and "Africa" and "white people" and "black people." Darryl Pinckney black long people The rise of fascism in Europe sent most Americans home. Some black American communists who had emigrated to the Soviet Union perished in Stalin's purges of the late 1930s. Darryl Pinckney communist black home Home is the place where there is somebody who does not wish you any pain. Darryl Pinckney pain wish home If you're bored, your readers will be bored. If you're faking it, you won't get the kind of readers you want. Darryl Pinckney bored kind If your family or your people are looking over your shoulder, change your seat or push them away. Darryl Pinckney our-family over-you people I think that the Vietnam War era is important because we tend not to want to revisit it. For black people, there was the temptation of disaffection. People looked for alternative ways to express themselves personally and politically, people doubted the system, and there was the terrible kind of division in black America between a radical leadership and a much older, compromising leadership. Darryl Pinckney war america thinking When you are writing the kind of criticism you hope you're writing, everything depends on keeping your calm or your cool. You're trying to tell someone about something that they may know nothing about. They depend on you to read or interpret as best as you can. Darryl Pinckney criticism writing trying In the 19th century, Berlin was called the German Chicago. Or Chicago was called the American Berlin because they were sort of new cities or new powerhouses. Darryl Pinckney berlin chicago cities The hardest thing about Berlin is letting it belong to other people. Darryl Pinckney berlin hardest people It's important for the progressive youth to remember that the agenda you set today is the agenda that will matter tomorrow. If you are engaged and active, it means you are one of the lucky ones and you are awake. Most people are not there yet. Darryl Pinckney important mean people Being a liberal progressive has been demonized as anti-white or overly on the side of blacks. There's nothing that can be done about that; it's just where we are in the history of our perceptions. Darryl Pinckney perception done white Identity has several parts, and the self needs to expand. Black youth should be encouraged to have as many parts or as rich an identity as possible. It's a form of allowing them to be curious about the world. Darryl Pinckney black-youth identity self As for the not-black black president issue - white people can imagine blacks worse off than them, no problem. And now they can imagine blacks better off, no problem. But they still can't imagine black people who are just like them. That's the real problem. That's racism. Not being able to believe that those others are actually just like you. Darryl Pinckney real white believe Economic justice is not just something blacks are crying out for; whites are desperate for it, too. But in the public imagination, the face of poverty is black. In all actuality, the face of poverty is white. Darryl Pinckney imagination white justice
