Kiki Devan

“Black females, for the most part, know by the time they are ten years old that the world is not much concerned with the quality of their lives or even their lives at all. When politicians and salespeople start being kind to black women, seeking them out, offering them largesse, the women accept the soft voices, the simpering statements, the often idle promises, because those are likely to be the only flattering behavior directed to them that day. Behind the women's eyes, however, there is a wisdom that does not pretend to be unaware; nor does it permit gullibility.”
― Maya Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven

“He was so near the sacred and fearful grail of black manhood that any man of color who faced the threat of life with courage, and intellect, and wit, was his hero.”
― Maya Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven

“Death of a beloved flattens and dulls everything. Connections do not adhere so closely, and important events lose some of their glow.”
― Maya Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven

“Curiosity had often lured me to the edge of ruin. For years, I had known that there is nothing idle about curiosity, despite the fact that the two words are often used in tandem. Curiosity fidgets, is hard to satisfy, looks for answers even before forming questions. Curiosity wants to behold, to comprehend, maybe even to become.”
― Maya Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven