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Before Richard Pryor and Dave Chappel, Steve Harvey and Chris Rock, there was Dick Gregory. He was one of the first to use comedy as a tool to wake up people about the social and political ills that plague our society. In addition to being a comic, Gregory is also a Civil Rights and social... read more

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This book detailed the life of Robert Lipsyte. I was truly surprised how much of an activist he was. Don't let the title fool you. He let you know why he chose that title in the dedication to his mother. The beginning of the book catches your attention and keeps it all the way till the end.... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

This book detailed the life of Robert Lipsyte. I was truly surprised how much of an activist he was. Don't let the title fool you. He let you know why he chose that title in the dedication to his mother. The beginning of the book catches your attention and keeps it all the way till the end. Truly one of my favorites.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Poor is a state of mind you never grow out of, but being broke is just a temporary condition.”
  • “If you walk through life showing the aggravation you've gone through, people will feel sorry for you, and they'll never respect you.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Poor is a state of mind you never grow out of, but being broke is just a temporary condition.
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • I guess she couldn’t see a kid who made noises because he wanted someone to know he was there.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • when a man sells his talents he’s a prostitute, and when you’re a prostitute you lay like the customer wants you to lay.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • And it dawned on me that anytime you help a Negro in America, even the Negroes will question your intentions.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • When I step up on that stage, in their neighborhood, some of them are going to feel sorry for me because I’m a Negro, and some of them are going to hate me because I’m a Negro. Those who feel sorry might laugh a little at first. But they can’t respect someone they pity; and eventually they’ll stop laughing. Those who hate me aren’t going to laugh at all.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • I guess the system didn’t want her to get off relief, the way it kept sending social workers around to make sure Momma wasn’t trying to make things better.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • Pregnant people get strange tastes. I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt and pregnant with smells that made people turn away, pregnant with cold and pregnant with shoes that were never bought for me, pregnant with five other people in my bed and no Daddy in the next room, and pregnant with hunger. Paste doesn’t taste too bad when you’re hungry.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • now I’m a man and I have to take care of myself. I need a fast comeback to that word. That split second is all the difference between going on with the show or letting the customers feel pity and a little resentment for the entertainer who got put down.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • I’ve got to go up there as an individual first, a Negro second. I’ve got to be a colored funny man, not a funny colored man. I’ve got to act like a star who isn’t sorry for himself—that way, they can’t feel sorry for me. I’ve got to make jokes about myself, before I can make jokes about them and their society—that way, they can’t hate me. Comedy is friendly relations.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • “You know, my contract reads that every time I hear that word, I get fifty dollars more a night. I’m only making ten dollars a night, and I’d like to put the owner out of business. Will everybody in the room please stand up and yell nigger?”
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Show all 12 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

It's a sad and beautiful feeling to walk home slow on Christmas Eve after you've been out hustling all day, shining shoes in the white taverns and going to the store for the neighbors and buying and stealing presents from the ten-cent store, and now it's dark and still along the street and your feet feel warm and sweaty inside your tennis sneakers even if the wind finds the holes in your mittens.

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: E P Dutton
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1964
ISBN: 0525166971
Page Count: 224

Classification edit see section history


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