origin of stay black and die
Jesse Dorland
Does anyone who does this quote came from " The only thing I have to
do is stay
black and die!?
Pat Durkin
news:e5092c6f-b2b4-4b20...@g26g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
I have never heard that quote, though I don't challenge its meaning.
Where or when (or from whom) did you hear it?
The expression I have heard is "I may as well lie down and die", or
"give up and die". Your quotation certainly has the feel of someone
who has reached a depressing moment or sense of futility. It may be
an expression that some US black person has stated, though I think
among US blacks there is a PC kind of feeling that improving
themselves does _not_ mean trying to grow out of their blackness.
John Dean
A quick wander around Yahoo suggests it was Langston Hughes in the late 40s
or early 50s in this poem:
Necessity
Work?
I don't have to work.
I don't have to do nothing
but eat, drink, stay black, and die.
This little old furnished room's
so small I can't whip a cat
without getting fur in my mouth
and my landlady's so old
her features is all run together
and God knows she sure can overcharge-
Which is why I reckon I *does*
have to work after all.
--
John Dean
Oxford
Jesse Dorland
> "Jesse Dorland" <jessedorl...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:e5092c6f-b2b4-4b20...@g26g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Hi
>
> > Does anyone who does this quote came from " The only thing I have to
> > do is stay
> > black and die!?
>
> I have never heard that quote, though I don't challenge its meaning.
>
> Where or when (or from whom) did you hear it?
My friend said this to me two or three days ago. She is Canadian
African. I did some googling, and this expression has been used by
many people including Bea in her interview she gave to Pride magazine.
"PM: Why keep going?
BT: I think we are all expected to do something with the life you have
been given. My favorite line is: “The only thing I have to do is stay
black and die.” Everything else is an option so what do you do with
the options a higher power has given you? You make the most of them
while helping others along the way."
Pride Magazine interview
http://tinyurl.com/ya9rkpw
Bill McCray
> My friend said this to me two or three days ago. She is Canadian
> African.
"African American" is apparently supposed to mean "American of African
descent". So does "Canadian African" mean "African of Canadian descent"?
Bill (the confused) in Kentucky
Jesse Dorland
According to Wiki:
"Black Canadians, Caribbean Canadians and African Canadians are
designations used for people of Black African descent who reside in
Canada. The terms are used by and of Canadian citizens who trace their
ancestry back to people who were indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa. The
majority have relatively recent origins in the Caribbean, while some
trace their lineage to the first slaves brought by British and French
colonists to the mainland of North America. A minority of the
population have recent African origin. Many Canadians identify as
Black even though they may have multi-ethnic ancestries."
Her ancestor are from the original Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Mudge
Folk only get hyphenated if they are Keebeckers, or just plain stupid !
--
The Canadian Curmudgeon (in Calgary)
Fix the biosphere - eliminate people
Bill McCray
"Re: origin of stay black and die". I apologize.
Bill in Kentucky
