How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"My poems aren't about that. Fame-seeking poems. They's the people's art," although yesterday she didn't want to have anything to do with "the people." (12.24)
It's clear that art is important to Cecile. Part of what drives her to write poetry, though, is also about access to and representation in art. Her poetry is for and about the people in the streets fighting for equality instead of the kind that belongs tucked away in quiet libraries.
Quote #2
Although no one thinks I can, I remember a time when smoke filled the house. Not coughing smoke but smoke from a woman's smooth-voiced singing, with piano, bass, and drums. All together these sounds made smoke. (13.4)
Music filling the air, words cluttering the walls—Delphine remembers her mom being around through the art that she produced. It's not until later that she realizes there's something weird about a grown woman writing on the walls. Art is a part of Cecile, more so than her family even.
Quote #3
When Brenda and the Tabulations sang "Dry Your Eyes," my sisters and I imagined they sang about a mother who had to leave her children. […] So I sang the la-la-la part with Fern, making a nice wall around us, to keep that laughing Ankton girl on the outside. (14.20)
The girls sing as a way of expressing themselves. Did you notice how they interpret the songs so that it's about their current situation? Instead of just singing a song, they think about its meaning and apply it to their lives. Suddenly every song is about a mom leaving her kids, just like Cecile did with them.
Quote #4
Maybe she thought the Panthers were coming back to bother her for more ink and paper (16.3)
We don't get to hear the full conversation between the Black Panthers and Cecile since Delphine is eavesdropping through the door. From what we do hear, we can tell that they want the printing press more than anything else. Words and art help encourage people to take action to support the movement.
Quote #5
"Television is a liar and a story" (18.14)
Cecile thinks about this art form (TV) as deceitful since it sugarcoats everything. Instead of calling out truths, like in poems, TV shows a white-washed, happy-go-lucky family. That stuff ain't real.
Quote #6
She would recite poetry to calm us down and get ready to learn more science or history. Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Countee Cullen, and William Blake—all fine poets whom we should know, she'd say. (22.6)
We love the idea of reciting poems to calm yourself down, and poetry has gotten us through some tough times, too. It's interesting that poems are used for a variety of purposes in the book. Some call out wrong-doing, others relax people, and some poems are about fighting for the cause.
Quote #7
Why had the police arrested Cecile? She wrote "Send us back to Africa" poems and "Movable Type" poems. She didn't write "off the Pig" poems and "Kill Whitey" poems, that is, if writing poems were a crime. (26.19)
It's shocking to Delphine that her mom would be arrested over some words. This, more than anything else, proves the power behind art in the book. The police are worried about the impact Delphine's poems have on people around her since they point out injustices.
Quote #8
The scuffed and dirty papers went in one pile. The rally flyers went in another. The sheets of poetry with Cecile's poet name, Nzila, printed on the bottom went in another. (27.4)
Remember how bent out of shape Cecile got about her kitchen? That's why this scene where the police mess up all of her neat piles hurts so much. It's not just that they are making a mess. They are disrespecting her art, destroying her spirit, and taking away her freedom to express herself.
Quote #9
And that thing, the third thing was, a poet had been born. It wasn't Longfellow, Cecile had written, but it was a running start. (30.36)
When Fern recites a poem at the rally, a poet is born. Coming from Cecile, that's a big deal. Delphine realizes the power of poetry throughout the book, which makes her come to terms with the importance of writing down ideas and using poetry as an art form and way to connect people.
Quote #10
At night I talked to myself to stay awake. I said the poems of Homer and Langston Hughes. I liked the words. They comforted me. Their rhymes. Their beats. They made a place for me. They kept me strong." (32.24)
Again we see the calming properties of poetry. Cecile uses it to keep her mind sharp and her spirit alive, and in this way, it restores her. She no longer has to focus on being pent up but instead recites famous poems. Art invigorates Cecile.