"Offhand, the only North American writers I can think of who have come from a background of rural poverty and gone on to write about it have been Negroes."
"Being a foreigner is not a disease."
"I couldn't help being a part of my race. A race that continued to be tough. It was possible for me to accept myself, finally, only when I realized-emotionally-that poetry is tough too, that a poem can contain as much fury and power as a fist or a blackjack."
