Black Poets Quotes

“It may be enough, however, to have it said that we survive in exact relationship to the dedication of our poets (include preachers, musicians, and blues singers).”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“One

We are pulled
to each other
like paper clips
into the embrace
of magnetized iron
like a lightning rod
hailing the finger
of thunder,
and we can't
say why.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Black Girl

Your
skin
is dark
chocolate
dipped
in honey.
You are
a delicious
shade
of melanin.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Cold soft drinks
quenched my thirst
one hot and humid July day
after a cool drive
to a mountain store.
Seems like every woman
in the place
had on halter tops
displaying their expensive tans.
There were two women
standing in front of me
at the checkout counter.
One said to the other,
“You must be a lady of leisure,
just look at your beautiful tan.'
Then the other woman responded,
'No, you must be a lady of leisure,
yours is much darker than mine.'
A tall dark and handsome Black dude
standing behind me
whispering down my Black back
said
'Sister, if those two
are ladies of leisure,
you must surely be
a lady of royalty.'
And in a modest tone, I replied,
'SHO NUFF?”
― Nilene Omodele Adeoti Foxworth

“To me words are life. Words carry with them a strong creative force. A force that makes things happen.”
― Valentine Okolo

“I empty my mind. And do something else that is not related to what I am writing about. Sometimes I take long walks, and focus on being in the present. As I walk, I take note of the rise and fall of the land, the diverse faces of people, the roaming animals, and the sounds coming from cars and motorcycles. Most times when I do this ideas flow to me freely, clearing my imaginative inhibitors.”
― Valentine Okolo

“In genocides rape is most times weaponized by the aggressive side, and the suffering sides to such wickedness are women, old and young. Such actions tear at my core and reveal mankind’s depravity at its worst.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“I most times don’t plan a poem in advance. Some poems, if I may use the expression, fall at my feet, almost fully formed. They are a few poems, however, that I do make plans to write in advance. And in order to write them I have to enter into a period of poetic gestation. A period in which I allow the idea of the poem to take root and grow within me until it is ready to be birthed. Sometimes the gestation period may take a few days. Sometimes it can take months or even years.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“What is Raven from my perspective? I believe it is the collective consciousness of the suffering masses melding into one voice. I believe it is conscience personified. Perhaps, a messenger with a message. Or even, the depths of my consciousness rising to the surface. Whatever it is, “Raven” started me on a quest. And I have been on this journey for quite some time.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Most times the poetic in life is found in many things around us. You would find it in the deft play of a football player on a soccer pitch. An orange sky with the descending sun at twilight. The laughter of a toddler playing with dirt. Or the feel of the wind caressing your face. Poetry most times is found in the profound.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“For me poetry is not the exclusive domain of academia. Stuff to be studied and dissected in college classrooms like a lab rat to find out what makes it thick. It is a form of human expression. The transference of human emotion from one person to another whether it is written or performed.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Each time a child goes up as an incendiary, something within me rips open. Until a day of reckoning comes I don’t think I will ever get over the self-immolation of each of those children. And my words are inadequate to show the depth of my grief or my anger. Nothing can. Only my deliberations with silence.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Portrait

True
beauty is hidden
in the fringes
of softness.
Something
which summons you
to experience
but not
to possess.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Scales

Balance
is
profit
and losses.
Acid
and alkali.
Vinegar
and sugar.
Depression
and
euphoria.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Earwax

Allow me
to slowly undress
your hair
and make love
to your ears.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Bright

Dazzle their eyes
with your
florescent smile,
pitch tent
with the waking
sunset.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Watermaid

You walk
like a river
and I see you,
gliding over the tide,
each evening,
your feet
barely making prints
in the sands.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Swimmer

You are
a water nymph
from the ocean
rising.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“What are we?

We are
a combination
of sand
and gunpowder,
cosmic energy
and sawdust.
We are
black holes
and novae,
children’s laughter,
and tears of time.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Moment

In my arms
you are
a trembling
leaf
licked
by the
erotic tongue
of the wind.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“You & I

Both of us
are like two hands in a painting,
gliding towards
each other in the dark.
Trying to communicate a message,
that no words,
but only touch can express.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“Flame

You burn
like a candle
or a hurricane lamp,
your eyes,
shut like a window at dusk.

Your hair, orange ropes.

The flames from your aura
reveal a rapture of release,
I see in the cleft of your teeth.”
― Valentine Okolo, I Will Be Silent

“When you look in the mirror, see your majesty, see all the beauty that is inside of you. The world may not always see you so allow the light of self-love to shine brightly.”
― Janet Autherine, The Heart and Soul of Black Women: Poems of Love, Struggle and Resilience

“love between us is
speech and breath. loving you is
a long river running.”
― Sonia Sanchez

“You know what Black means? BLACK means Brave, BLACK means Leaderly, BLACK means Adventurous, BLACK means Considerate, BLACK means Kind.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulldozer on Duty