"South Africa used to seem so far away. Then it came home to me. It began to signify the meaning of white hatred here. That was what the sheets and the suits and the ties covered up, not very well. That was what the cowardly guys calling me names from their speeding truck wanted to happen to me, to all of me: to my people. That was what would happen to me if I walked around the corner into the wrong neighborhood. That was Birmingham. That was Brooklyn. That was Reagan. That was the end of reason. South Africa was how I came to understand that I am not against war; I am against losing the war."

You may also like:

• 

  Adrienne Rich
  Poet

• 

  Alice Walker
  Author

• 

  Audre Lorde
  Writer

• 

  Fannie Lou Hamer
  Political leader

• 

  Gwendolyn Brooks
  Poet

• 

  Lucille Clifton
  Poet

• 

  Nikki Giovanni
  Writer

• 

  Ntozake Shange
  Playwright

• 

  Sonia Sanchez
  Poet