Griot Quotes

“...anyone still attempting to argue that Ebonics is a problem for black students or that it is somehow connected to a lack of intelligence or lack of desire to achieve is about as useful as a Betamax video cassette player, and it's time for those folks to be retired, be they teachers, administrators, or community leaders, so the rest of us can try to do some real work in the service of equal access for black students and all students. (15)”

“I preserve my worldin journals so my children can eat without me”

“Your muse ain't singin' on your MTV? Can't even see him on your HD TV?”

“You got infinite channels and limitless rhymes, but the riddles of livin' stay undefined?”

“We start our lives with blues . . . with music. It's our first language. It's the rhythm of the womb. It's your mama's heartbeat inside your head.”

“The music echoes in the emptiness. It reminds us where we came from and where we’re bound.”

“And here's to the blues, the real blues— where there's a hint of hope in every cry of desperation.”

“And a ride in a hearse tells us we’re all close to that final cruise . . . when the body dies and we move on. It’s just the body, man. It’s just the body. The soul’s already gone. So don’t be afraid of a dead body absent a soul. It’s empty, man. No resident. What you need to worry about is a living body that’s lost its soul. Now that is scary, man.” - Funk N. Wagnalls, owner of the Grim Reapers auto lot, a character in Professor Brown Shoes Teaches the Blues.”