The Washington riot gave me the thrill that comes once in a life time. I was alone when I read between the lines of the morning paper that at last our men had stood like men, struck back, were no longer dumb, driven cattle. When I could no longer read for my streaming tears, I stood up, alone in my room, held both hands high over my head and exclaimed a loud: “Oh, I thank God, thank God!”…I’m sure the editor will understand why I cannot sign my name.
—A SOUTHERN AFRICAN-AMERICAN
WOMAN IN A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
OF THE CRISIS, SEPTEMBER 1919
Intellectual darkness is essential to industrial slavery.
—EUGENE DEBS, SEPTEMBER 1919