Brother to Brother Quotes

“Why should Africa's descendants base their lives and their future on the Koran, or the Bible? With all due respect, the Koran is not an artifact of African culture, it is Arabian. And the Bible in its present form was given to us by white slavemasters. Indeed, both books were introduced to Africa by people more interested in increasing their wealth than in Africa's well-being. Europeans and Arabs enslaved Africans. We don't owe them anything, so why should we be subservient to their books?
('Some thoughts on the challenges facing black gay intellectuals' by Ron Simmons)”
― Essex Hemphill, Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men

“Many people do interpret "black men loving black men" solely in terms of a sexual, romantic affinity, and love. But what I meant was love in the sense of friendship, community, family, and fraternity, which was far more important, in nurturing me as a black gay man, than the love of a particular lover who is white. It's more important because for black people in this country it's difficult to exist, to flourish, to find sustenance and spiritual strength when you're totally surrounded by whites, or when the source of your support is solely from whites. There are things that white people can't understand, don't feel, and don't know no matter how much they love you.
(Marlon Riggs, in an interview with Ron Simmons)”
― Essex Hemphill, Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men