Ossie Davis Quotes

Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move.

... Harlem was home; was where we belonged; where we knew and were known in return; where we felt most alive; where, if need be, somebody had to take us in. Harlem defined us, claiming our consciousness and, I suspect, our unconsciousness. (Page 64)

We can't float through life. We can't be incidental or accidental. We must fix our gaze on a guiding star as soon as one comes upon the horizon and once we have attached ourselves to that star we must keep our eyes on it and our hands upon the plow. It is the consistency of the pursuit of the highest possible vision that you can find in front of you that gives you the constancy, that gives you the encouragement, that gives you the way to understand where you are and why it's important for you to do what you can do.

It occurred to us, from observation and from reasonin, that extra marital sex was not what really destroyed marriages, but rather the lies and deception that invariably accompanied it -- that was the culprit. Page 317

We meet from time to talk and argue…about what we as artists can do, how we can express the anguish for the moral situation we find in this country, but not as civil rights pleaders.

Melanin is why Ossie Davis states, "I find, in being black, something of beauty: a pleasure; a power; a key cup of gladness."  Melanin is our ability, our intellect, our creativity, and our power.