A Quote by Jonathan Lethem

What age is a black boy when he learns he's scary? — © Jonathan Lethem
What age is a black boy when he learns he's scary?
A real writer learns from earlier writers the way a boy learns from an apple orchard -- by stealing what he has a taste for, and can carry off
Children learn what they live. If a child lives with criticism... he learns to condemn. If he lives with hostility... he learns to fight. If he lives with ridicule... he learns to be shy. If he lives with shame... he learns to be guilty. If he lives with tolerance... he learns confidence. If he lives with praise... he learns to appreciate. If he lives with fairness... he learns about justice
I first learned that there were black people living in some place called other than the United States in the western hemisphere when I was a very little boy, and my father told me that when he was a boy about my age, he wanted to be an Episcopal priest, because he so admired his priest, a black man from someplace called Haiti.
One learns better than to hand one's choices to fear. With age, with every wound and scar, one learns.
The concept of guilt is found most powerfully developed even in the most primitive communal forms which we know... the man is guilty who violates one of the original laws which dominate the society and which are mostly derived from a divine founder; the boy who is accepted into the tribal community and learns its laws, which bind him thenceforth, learns to promise; this promise is often given under the sign of death, which is symbolically carried out on the boy, with a symbolical rebirth.
Part of what I am dealing with, with this blackness, is asking the question, "Where are those black people, who are as dark as the description of a young black boy that Solomon Northup gives in 12 Years A Slave?" He describes the young black 14-year-old boy as "blacker than any crow." You have to question if he is using that metaphorically or as a descriptive?
This isn’t a game, human. Listen to the Skotos and go. We’re not bound by the laws of the Oneroi. Killing humans is nothing for us. (Dolophoni) Well, aren’t you all scary in black. Ooo. What are you two masquerading as? Evil Man and his trusty sidekick Bad Boy? (Geary)
I am convinced that the Black man will only reach his full potential when he learns to draw upon the strengths and insights of the Black woman.
Yes, you have people shouting racist abuse and throwing bananas on the field, and there are issues regarding the number of black coaches and managers in the game, but which other industry allows a young black boy the exact same opportunity as a young white boy?
I've been in situations where I was 'black boy white,' or 'white boy black.' People didn't know, "Is he the whitest black person in the world or is he the blackest white person in the world?"
Angry Black White Boy is bananas! Actually, it's a banana split with razor blades in it. Adam Mansbach is the white Richard Wright, and Angry Black White Boy is our generation's Native Son.
I believe that my race will succeed in proportion as it learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner; learns to do a thing so thoroughly that no one can improve upon what it has done; learns to make its services of indispensable value.
Until recently, Hollywood offered only a handful of roles to actors of color. The majority of my opportunities have fallen into two categories: Scary Black and Funny Black.
A man learns with age, if he is lucky.
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. ... If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive. ... If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident. ... If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love.
I was an altar boy, a spokesperson for the Virgin Mary, I was a choir boy but then at the age of 14 I discovered masturbation and all that went out the window.
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