For as long as I can remember, I have been passionately intrigued by 'Africa,' by the word itself, by its flora and fauna, its topographical diversity and grandeur; but above all else, by the sheer variety of the colors of its people, from tan and sepia to jet and ebony.

The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary Criticism (ed. Oxford University Press, 2014) - ISBN: 9780199874514