"One of the first books I read when I moved to New York City, I like that James Baldwin imparts some of his own experience growing up in Harlem into this novel. It deals with issues of race and the church, and how both can be positive and negative factors in life."

"An extraordinary book by an extraordinarily powerful poet. Clifton writes about the body and the state of womanhood like no other. Like the other poets I've mentioned on this list, Clifton doesn't suffer any fools in her writing and always goes straight for the jugular when talking about race, feminism, love and anger."

"One of Earth’s best. Classic New York movie. Holds up. Makes me miss New York. It made me miss New York even when I lived there. It’s a masterpiece, and due to its depiction of race relations and police brutality in the U.S., the paint is still very warm and wet on it."

"There’s no law against asking strangers about their lives and feelings, although sometimes it really feels like there is. This is the kind of thing I want to read all day long, on every aspect of life (and there’s more, Terkel collected oral histories on race, the great depression, movies and plays, etc.)"